Hide and Seek
by The Fink
Summary: Eric's past catches up with him. Will the nightmare swallow him or can he face down the demons once and for all? [Book 3 in the Identiverse saga NOW COMPLETE]
1. Prologue: Promises Made

I'm only going to disclaim this story once, in full, so listen very carefully, I shall say this only once: Eric, Kimberly, Alice, Alex, Wes and Jen don't belong to me, they belong to BVE. No harm, no foul, no money made. Every other character that is going to crop up over the course of the rest of this story belongs to me; please do not borrow without asking me first.

While this prologue is PG-13 in rating, the rest of the story is going to be apt to be rated somewhere around a strong R for language, sexual innuendo and most especially for violence.

Some of the locations mentioned are real, but not being a member of the USMC (nor a local to the Camp Pendleton area), I've probably got some/all of the location details wrong -- please forgive those. Please also forgive any errors of military protocol and medical goofs -- I have done my best to research the details, but not being a member of the USMC or the medical community, I know I'm probably wrong in places. Even the best research can only go so far.

While this is the follow up to Max Force, it is also the follow up to Scars. If you haven't read either of those, you will very likely find yourself lost.

Timing is three weeks from the end of Max Force.

With very, very grateful thanks to Gamine for patiently pulling out the nits and reading this over several times. Also to Irina who graciously volunteered for nit picking duty. Thank you, ladies -- much appreciated. Believe me!

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Prologue -- Promises Made

312 Maple Street, Silverhills  
25th March 2002; 7:01am

Eric lay in bed wondering who on earth was hammering on his door at seven o'clock in the morning, on a Monday morning -- and his first proper day off in more time than he cared to think about -- of all things. He wondered if he ignored them long enough, maybe they'd go away.

_Not the way my luck normally runs,_ he decided, groaning.

"All right, all right -- I'll be there in a minute," he yelled, slowly rolling out of bed. He paused long enough to pull on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before padding out of his bedroom and up to the front door.

Opening the door, he found himself staring at Jen and Wes, who both looked grim.

"What?" he asked, knowing it was going to be bad news.

"Can we come in?" Wes asked.

Eric sighed and opened the door wider. "This is supposed to be my day off," he said reproachfully as they entered.

"Don't shoot the messengers," Jen replied.

"Now I **know** I'm not going to like this," Eric muttered, closing the door behind them. "Do you want coffee?"

"Gina will have the coffee on by the time we get there," Wes answered.

Eric groaned. "What part of 'Eric Myers wants a day off' does the universe not understand?" He looked at Wes and Jen. "And don't, either of you, say a word. Not one word." He headed back into his bedroom. "Do I have time for a shower or is whatever this is so urgent..."

"We have an hour," Wes cut in. "So yes, you have time for a shower."

"Just no coffee."

"Look at it this way," Jen offered, "the quicker you're ready, the quicker you can have some of Gina's special blend Java. She was putting it on especially for you."

"That," said Eric pointedly, heading from bedroom to bathroom, "is bribery." He paused and looked over his shoulder at both. "If you've resorted to that, things must be really bad."

He entered the bathroom. Wes' answer followed him, "Depends on your definition of bad."

Eric turned on the shower. He knew without being told that whatever this was about it meant that his day off was cancelled. _Take a day off, they said. Have a long weekend, they said. You've earned it, they said. There's nothing that could possibly come up that would need your attention, they said. Ha!_ Eric snorted. _I should have known._ The closest he had come to having a day off in the last eighteen months had been the day he and Jen had driven up to Del Oro Bay. _And that wasn't exactly a day of leisure._

With a sigh, Eric turned to face into the spray. _I'd been hoping to use today to start planning my departure._ He was still not sure where he was going to go, or what he was going to do when he got there, but after his last conversation with Kimberly, some eight weeks ago, leaving was probably the only option. Working out where to go had been on his list of 'things to do' for the day, along with more mundane tasks like finally clearing out the backyard. _But none of that's gonna get done now._

The hot water was starting to run lukewarm now.

__

Wherever I do go I'm going to make damn sure there's a bigger hot water tank than this place!

With another sigh, he shut off the water, climbed out of the shower and started to dry off. Now that the water was off he could hear the murmur of chat between Wes and Jen. This was feeling worse by the second. As he shaved, he could hear snatches of the conversation:

"...yes I'm sure." That was Wes.

"...go for it -- do you?" Jen.

"I...'ly not but..."

"Have to..."

"...Alex."

Eric groaned, wishing the razor had slipped that point. If Alex was involved this really was not good news. He finished shaving and gave his teeth a cursory swipe with the toothbrush before pulling on the sweats and t-shirt to head back to his bedroom to get dressed.

"Nearly done?" Wes enquired as he exited the bathroom.

"Five minutes," Eric replied, shaking his head. Wes being antsy was another sign that whatever was up was something he really, really wasn't going to like. He headed into his bedroom again, closing the door behind himself and started to hastily get changed.

Less than three minutes later, and trailing bootlaces, Eric left his bedroom again. Stalling the inevitable query, he said, "Just let me grab a slice of toast and I will be done."

"Did I say anything?" Wes asked.

"No but you were thinking it." Eric rammed a slice of bread into the toaster. While he was waiting for it, he bent over and tied the laces of his boots. "Do I get to know what this is all about?"

"It'll be easier to explain when we get to the SG headquarters," Jen answered. "But you're..."

"Not going to like it?" Eric suggested, straightening in time to catch the slice of almost carbonised toast that popped out of the now smoking toaster. "I figured that." Jen stared at him. "What?"

"It's burnt."

Eric glanced at it. "I guess."

"You eat it like that?" said Wes, startled.

Eric took a bite, shrugged and swallowed the mouthful. "I thought you guys were in a hurry."

"Good point. Ready?" Wes asked, still staring at the toast.

"Yes -- and quit staring at my breakfast," Eric retorted. "Yes it's burnt, yes I eat it like that. No, I'm not asking you to eat it!"

"Time out!" Jen interjected. "C'mon -- we know it's early, we know this was supposed to be your day off. Moan in the car -- we have to be at the beach in ten minutes."

"The beach?" Eric echoed, collecting his keys from where he'd dumped them the previous evening.

"The beach," Wes confirmed, heading towards the door. "Otherwise known as the time ship landing zone."

Eric groaned softly. "Here we go again."

~*~

From the looks of things, the time ship had just landed as Wes pulled up to the side of the coast road. All Eric had been able to find out so far was that the time ship was bringing Alex and that Alex would explain everything. _Right -- and I came down in the last rain shower,_ Eric thought with sarcasm. _Alex only tells the part of the truth that suits him._

No sooner had the SUV come to a stop than Alex, in full Time Force uniform, appeared and climbed into the back of the SUV -- much to Eric's irritation.

"Sorry about this," Alex apologised.

"This was supposed to be my day off," Eric muttered. "This had better be life threatening."

"Eric, can it," Wes instructed.

Eric subsided, but continued to glare at Alex, who shifted a little nervously in his seat.

"I know this isn't a good time," Alex added. "I'd have liked to have given you a good couple of months to settle down -- unfortunately, the bigwigs have other ideas."

Eric heard Jen groan from the passenger seat and mutter, "The bigwigs usually do."

"How about we save the explanations until we get to the SG Headquarters?" Wes suggested, pulling back onto the road. "Particularly if they're going to involve an explanation of time travel -- giving the car driver a migraine attack is not a good idea."

"What makes you think there's an explanation of time travel?" Alex asked, puzzled.

"Because," Eric answered, "even if you have to see us 'today', what was wrong with pushing your arrival point back a couple of months -- if you were so desperate to give us time to settle down."

"Ah." Eric could see Alex resisting the impulse to loosen his collar. "Good point."

"So...?"

"At headquarters!" said Wes. "Unless you want to drive?" he added, meeting Eric's gaze in the rear-view mirror.

"All right, I'll behave," Eric muttered. "For now."

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

As Wes pulled into the parking lot, Jen said, "I'll pick up the coffee from Gina -- maybe that will cheer someone up."

"That," said Eric, "would require today not having started by me being kicked out of bed at seven o'clock on my day off."

"I figured you'd prefer today to tomorrow," Alex offered.

"Tomorrow?" said Wes. "What's happening tomorrow?"

Eric glared poisonously in Alex's direction. "Thank you **very** much."

"Tomorrow?" Jen prompted.

Eric noted the apologetic expression on Alex's face. "I figured they'd know."

"I've gone to some length to make sure they didn't," Eric retorted.

"Know **what**?" Wes and Jen asked in unison.

"Tomorrow's his birthday," Alex informed them.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Eric?" queried Wes, turning in his seat to look.

Eric put his head in his hands. "Yes. All right?"

"Why didn't you say something?" Jen asked.

"Because it doesn't matter. It's just another day."

"But..." began Wes.

"It is just another day," Eric gritted. "Are we going to hold this discussion about whatever the heck it is in the SUV or are we going to go inside?"

"B..." Wes sighed. "OK."

"Wes -- how about you show Alex into the conference room, Eric and I can pick up the coffee," Jen suggested.

Before Eric could object he found himself alone with Jen in the SUV as Wes and Alex departed -- rapidly in Alex's case.

"Coming?" Jen asked, opening the passenger door to climb out herself.

Eric sighed. "Sure. Although," he added, getting out of the SUV, "if you think this is going to be some kind of 'talk'..."

"I'd be absolutely right," Jen cut in. "C'mon." She led the way into the headquarters. "Now, we can go through the bullshit about this being none of my business, but I've just made it my business, so why don't we skip that part and you just tell me why you didn't say anything?"

Eric groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering wildly how he'd landed up on this particular ring of hell. "Can I at least get some caffeine before I try and answer that?" he pleaded weakly.

Jen smiled sympathetically. "You're really not a morning person," she observed.

"Not when I have any choice in the matter," Eric agreed. "Which, admittedly, hasn't exactly been often."

"OK -- you can have some coffee first, but I am going to get an answer," Jen warned.

"If it's that important." Jen just looked at him. "OK, it's that important."

"Good...um... Commander Myers." Gina's greeting managed to lift Eric's mood.

"Must look bad if she knows it's not a good morning," he murmured softly.

Jen snickered. "Hey Gina -- is the coffee done?"

"Certainly is -- I've already taken it through to the conference room. But I figured..." To Eric's amazement, she produced his mug already filled.

"Gina, I think you've just achieved Sainthood," Jen snickered as Eric made a beeline for the mug.

Eric knew he ought to retaliate for the teasing -- particularly as Gina started snickering too -- but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was coffee. Maybe the morning might start to look up now.

"OK -- commune with the caffeine God on the way to the conference room."

_Maybe not._ Eric inhaled half the mug-full. "All right, all right."

He followed Jen into the building.

"So...?" Jen prompted. "You have caffeine -- why didn't you say anything about tomorrow?"

"You have a one track mind," Eric complained.

"Eric, you're my friend," Jen answered, stopping his progress along the hallway, "and it bothers me when my friends don't think they can trust me enough to tell me when their birthday is."

"It's not a matter of trust," Eric replied. "It's..." He stopped.

"It's...?"

He inhaled the rest of the coffee in his mug before answering, "Do you know the last time anyone bothered about it being my birthday?" Mutely Jen shook her head. "Me either." Jen stared in wide-eyed disbelief. "I'm not kidding. My mother lost interest in me when I was about four." He shrugged a little awkwardly.

"What about your dad?" Jen asked, looking shocked.

Eric snorted bitterly. "Never met the son of a bitch. My mother couldn't even tell me his first name when I was old enough to ask her about it." Jen winced. "So, you'll forgive me if I don't tend to get excited by the prospect of my birthday."

"I'm sorry..."

Eric waved off the apology. "Eh, don't worry about it -- you didn't know. Just...trust me. Tomorrow is just another day." He fixed her with a look. "And it's staying that way, right?"

Jen smiled. "I can take a hint."

Eric regarded the bottom of his mug, realising for the first time that it was empty. "We should probably get to the conference room before Wes starts thinking I've made off with his fiancée."

Jen chuckled. "Good point."

She moved out of his way and they resumed the journey to the conference room, this time in silence.

"Beginning to think you guys had got lost," Wes observed as Eric and Jen finally entered the conference room.

Eric smirked faintly as he sat down. "Not hardly." He helped himself to another mug of coffee. "Now, would someone mind telling me just what the hell is going on today?"

"That would be me," said Alex quietly.

"OK. So...?" Eric prompted.

"What do you want to hear first?" Alex asked. "Why today or why I'm here period?"

"Why today," suggested Jen. "Why is this trip so urgent?"

"Eric," Alex answered.

Eric stared at the Time Force officer, almost choking on his coffee. "Excuse me?"

"You're preparing to leave, aren't you?" Alex replied.

Eric noted that neither Wes nor Jen looked entirely surprised by that revelation. _Am I that transparent?_ he found himself wondering. "I might be -- does that make any difference?"

"Makes a hell of a difference." Alex sat back in his seat. "I wanted to have this discussion two or three months down the line when the dust had settled after Biocon. Unfortunately," he continued, folding his arms across his chest, "two or three months down the line, you aren't here."

There was something Alex wasn't saying. Eric frowned.

"If he's not here," Wes put in, "where is he?"

Alex shrugged. "If I knew the answer to that question, I couldn't tell you. As it is, I don't know anyway."

"You expect us to believe that?" Eric asked.

Alex shrugged again. "It happens to be true."

Eric had long since developed a knack for knowing when he was being lied to. It had been a form of self-protection for so long that it was almost a subconscious reaction. And one look at Alex now set that warning off, loud and clear. "Sure it is," he drawled.

Eric had to give Alex credit for not looking at all bothered at being rumbled. "Fine -- you don't have to believe me, but that **is** all I'm saying on the subject."

Again Eric knew he was lying. He opened his mouth to say so, but Jen got in first, "OK, we've established why now, so why at all?"

For answer, Alex produced a datapad from the briefcase he'd been carrying. "The bigwigs in Time Force want some form of...contract between us in 3000 and you guys here."

"Contract?" said Wes sharply.

"You've both," and Alex indicated Wes and Eric, "got honorary ranks within Time Force..."

"We do?" said Eric, surprised. "Well I suppose that explains why Lucas told me he outranked me."

Alex smirked faintly. "Actually, he doesn't any more."

"Oh?"

Alex shook his head. "Anyway, the bigwigs are concerned that 'inappropriate technology' is being left in the hands of 'unknowns and renegades'."

"Which one of us is the renegade and which one of us is the unknown?" Wes wondered.

"They want to take the morphers -- and that includes the Quantum Morpher -- back to 3000," Alex explained, ignoring Wes' musing.

"But they'll be so much scrap metal in 3000!" Jen objected.

Alex gave a tired grin. "Which is what I said."

"What's the plan?" Jen asked quietly.

"The plan is," Alex answered, "that the three of you retain your morphers but you remain answerable to Time Force -- or become answerable to Time Force," he added, looking at first Wes then Eric.

Eric muttered, "Hit the bottom line, Alex -- what do you mean?"

"Bottom line: Either you agree to sign up, or in Jen's case, remain signed on as Time Force officers; or you turn your morphers over to me when I leave."

Eric stared, incredulous. "You want us to **what**?!"

"Technically," Alex answered wryly, "they're Time Force property. I know," he added before anyone could say anything else, "that they're next to useless without the three of you holding them. Unfortunately, convincing the bigwigs of that has been well nigh impossible. This is the compromise."

"What is this going to involve?" Jen asked.

Alex pushed the datapad across the table towards her. "That's the contract. The bigwigs have agreed to the three of you being permanently stationed in time -- as they see it. You won't be salaried -- unless you happened to have cause to come forward in time, then you'd be getting the standard pay deal. You probably won't be eligible for promotion either, but as all three of you will be at the rank of Captain, there isn't a whole lot further you could climb up the rank ladder anyway."

"But what is it going to involve?" Wes pressed.

"Nothing."

Eric snorted. "Right. No such thing as a free lunch."

Alex looked amused. "Literally, all it involves is you and Wes sign...thumb print the contract and that's it, unless Time Force require anything in this time period."

Eric rolled his eyes. "Knew it."

"We'd do that anyway," Wes reminded him.

Eric shrugged. "So?"

"Anyway. That's the offer."

Eric looked at Jen. "You know this organisation. Think we can trust them to not interfere in our lives?"

Jen shrugged. "Probably -- there are rules and regs about how much interference Time Force can have with a time period. We live here -- regardless of what datapads you sign -- therefore they can't actually do anything to you. They certainly can't drag you out of time -- that's a criminal act."

_Shouldn't doesn't mean won't,_ Eric mused. _After all, Biocon was a Time Force officer._

"Well," Jen continued, "I chose to be a Time Force officer and if they're happy to say I'm still a Time Force officer then I guess that's what I am."

Wes held out his hand for the datapad. "I might not have known what I was letting myself in for last June but I chose to take on the morpher and whatever came with it." Eric saw him glance at Alex. "Just tell me where to sign."

A moment later, as Wes imprinted his thumb in the right place, Eric felt everyone's attention focus in on him.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to," Alex observed.

Eric pinched the bridge of his nose. Every instinct was screaming at him not to do it. Every last fibre told him this would probably come back to haunt him. And that annoying sense of right and wrong chose that moment to rear its head and point out that not doing it was tantamount to cowardice.

Rubbing his face with one hand, he held the other out towards Wes. "For the record, I think this is the worst decision I've ever made, but I'll do it."

"Eric, you don't have to..." began Jen.

"No, what I didn't have to do was pick up the QCB last July -- and I sure as shit didn't have to activate it." Eric sighed. "For better or worse, I chose to do all that." He imprinted his thumb on the datapad and slid it back across the table to Alex. "I'm in."

Alex looked visibly relieved, Eric noted. "Thank you." He tucked the datapad back into the briefcase. "The other thing is -- Jen, Askot's court case is up."

Eric watched Jen nod. "You said," she replied. That was when Eric finally realised that Alex must have put in a holoscreen call to have pre-warned Jen, at least, of his imminent arrival.

"You're being called as a witness. Askot's lawyer tried," and Alex snorted, "to have you named as a defence witness."

"That's absurd," said Eric.

Alex grinned. "That was what the Supreme Court told him. Unfortunately," he continued, the grin fading, "there's no way that you're going to avoid testifying -- and testifying in person."

Eric looked from Jen to Wes. Both seemed to know what the implications of that were. "Anyone wanna fill me in here?" he appealed.

"It means I have to go back to 3000 for a few weeks," Jen answered.

"Three," put in Alex. "At least, to appearances here. If I could guarantee trial length, you could be gone and back in a day, but... Legal proceedings still take as long as they take, and this is far from straight forward."

Eric nodded slowly. "So Jen goes away for three weeks?"

"Jen and Wes," Alex corrected.

Eric noted that again, neither Wes nor Jen looked surprised. "For three weeks?"

"For three weeks," Alex confirmed.

Eric looked from Wes to Jen and then back to Alex. "Leaving when?"

"This afternoon." It was Jen who answered.

Eric stared. "You leave, this afternoon, for three weeks?" he whispered.

"Afraid so."

He counted to ten, slowly. Then again in German. Then a third time in the Serbo-Croat he'd picked up while serving in Bosnia.

"Eric?"

__

Does it occur to you, you thickheaded son of a bitch, that there might be a good reason for this?

"Eric, it's not what you're thinking."

Eric finally risked looking up at Wes who had so far been speaking.

"Trust me."

__

Take a risk for once in your goddamned life.

"OK." Eric forced himself to meet Wes' gaze. _If I'm gonna be lied to, I wanna be lied to face to face._

__

For Christ's sake -- this is the guy who you trust with your life. Is it really so hard to believe that he's not going to sell you down the river now?

"The reason we didn't say anything is because we didn't want you to feel trapped."

Eric stared. "Trapped?" he echoed.

Jen nodded. "We know you're thinking of leaving," she explained. "The last thing I wanted was for you to feel obligated to stay just because this **might** happen."

Eric stared. It took several seconds for Jen's words to actually sink in. _See? They were thinking of you. They weren't lying to be malicious. You have **so** gotta get over yourself, Myers._ "Oh." He wasn't sure what was more embarrassing. Having leapt to conclusions in the first place or the absurd amount of relief he felt on being wrong.

"It's OK."

Eric sighed. It was anything but OK. This was one of the reasons he needed time away at the very least. "I guess you guys need to sort out the details of your trip...I'll get out of the way."

"You don't have to..." began Alex.

Eric shrugged, suddenly feeling very, very tired. "If you're going away there's stuff I need to do before you leave. I'll get a start on that."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 1: A Warning

Disclaimer: See prologue. Suffice to say, Eric isn't mine. Everyone else is.

From here on in, the rating is R for violence and language. 

With thanks to Gamine, Irina and Ekat for the beta'ing and advice. Ladies, you're the greatest.

Please offer feedback, it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 1 -- A Warning

Life, Eric reflected, was always more chaotic when your co-worker went on holiday.

At least, that was officially where Wes was.

Eric smiled wryly. In practice, both Wes and Jen were some thousand years in the future, dealing with the court case that had resulted from the Biocon affair, which meant Eric was stuck in the present, dealing with the here-and-now concerns of running the Silver Guardians. Wes had been gone less than twenty-four hours and already there had been four calls from clients requesting extra services and two calls from the SPD requesting some extra leg power on two house-to-house investigations.

And it wasn't even ten o'clock.

"I need caffeine." But as he stood up, intending to make for the coffee pot in the corner of the office, his telephone buzzed. _What God did I offend?_ he wondered as he reached for the receiver. "Myers."

"Commander Myers, you have a visitor," answered Gina.

"A visitor?" That was just about unusual enough to merit a second thought. The overwhelming bulk of Guardian business was done via telephone so to actually get someone meeting them in person... "Who is it?"

"John Cawdron."

Eric frowned. That name was familiar -- but then again, in the last ten years he'd known an awful lot of people under a vast number of circumstances. When, after several seconds thought, he couldn't bring a face to mind, he shrugged. "Show him up."

"Yes, sir."

There was a click as Gina put down her receiver. Hastily Eric followed suit and dived for the coffee pot. It would take five minutes for his visitor to get up to the office -- long enough for him to pour himself a much-needed coffee and retake his seat.

Just as he returned to his seat, there was a knock on the door.

  
"Come in."

First to enter the office was Gina. She smiled.

"Commander Myers -- this is Mr Cawdron."

Eric was eternally grateful that he was seated when Cawdron entered the office; otherwise he suspected his knees would have given way under him. For a fraction of a second time telescoped in on itself.

__

"Come in."

"Master Sergeant Myers reporting as ordered, sir."

"Have a seat, Myers. Do you have any idea why I wanted to see you?"

"No sir."

"Are you aware that for the last five months you have been undergoing continued psychiatric review?"

"No sir."

"I have here, the results of that review. I'm afraid they aren't favourable, Myers. There are three alternatives. The first is that you go on an extended leave of absence. You see a psychiatrist and you get your head together. The second is a medical discharge. The third is that when your tour of duty finishes at the end of this month, you don't re-enlist. After today's performance, the first is not an option. I don't want to take the second, but if you don't take the third I will have to."

"Sir?"

"I am strongly recommending you don't re-enlist. If you do, I will be forced to give you a medical discharge stating severe mental imbalance."

Eric shook off the memory with difficulty. That day had been the lowest point of his life and even nearly three years later the shock of the moment was still as strong as it had ever been.

"Sir?" Gina asked, sounding concerned.

That was when he realised his hands had wrapped themselves tightly around the arms of his chair and that his jaw had clenched. With difficulty, he forced himself to relax.

  
"It's OK, Gina."

She gave him a searching look, then glared at Cawdron. At any other time her obviously protective bearing would have made him laugh, but under these circumstances it barely raised a glimmer of humour. "I'll hold your calls, sir."

"Thanks Gina."

Visibly reluctant, she withdrew from the office and pulled the door shut. Eric listened to the tap of her heels as she headed away from the office. It gave him something else to concentrate on. Something to help him calm his badly jangled nerves. Anything rather than face the man standing in front of his desk.

"Myers."

It was no good -- Cawdron might be a ghost from the past but he wasn't going to go away. Eric finally risked looking up at his former CO. "Lieutenant Colonel Cawdron." His voice was flat and emotionless.

"It's Colonel Cawdron now...technically."

Eric shrugged. "Congratulations." Cawdron flinched. "I somehow doubt you came all the way here just to tell me you got promoted."

"May I...?" Cawdron gestured at the empty seat in front of Eric's desk. Eric shrugged. Cawdron sat down.

"So? What do you want?" Eric asked.

Cawdron hesitated a moment, presumably collecting his thoughts. "I've heard something that...I think you deserve to know about." Cawdron paused and then added, "You of all people."

Time telescoped again.

__

He was almost under the umbrella of the chain gunfire from the warrior, when his rifle finally jammed.

There was a moment where everything seemed to freeze. Eric couldn't believe what had happened. He could only stare in stunned fashion at the now useless lump of metal and plastic in his hands.

"Move, you dozy jarhead!" yelled the gunner in the warrior. Eric wasn't entirely sure what 'dozy' actually meant but when combined with the gunner's harsh British accent and the derogatory term 'jarhead', he had a pretty fair idea it wasn't supposed to be complimentary.

The yell was the cue for everything to restart. Three or four Serbs rushed forwards as Eric hastily back-pedalled, using the jammed rifle as a club. Unfortunately, one of the Serbs just grabbed the flailing end of the rifle and pulled. Eric wasn't quite quick enough to release it. He found himself being dragged into the press of Serbs. Somewhere along the line, his helmet came off and then something hit the back of his head, and everything went black...

... "Oh, Sergeant Myers," the man replied, "you had better **hope** you have some information -- otherwise you are really **not** going to enjoy your stay here." The man pressed a button on the speakerphone on his desk. "Da, Sacha."

A moment later and the earlier guard reappeared. There was another rapid-fire conversation, and then Eric found himself being dragged out of the office.

He was led further along the corridor, down some steps and into a basement. This time, he didn't need the guard's warning hand on his shoulder telling him to stop: He came to a halt on his own in pure shock at the sight that greeted him in the basement room. It looked like something out of a bad B Movie or trashy horror flick. There was a table with manacles attached to each corner. There were chains attached to the wall. There was a rack of assorted whips and switches. There was another rack filled with positively medieval looking metal items that his mind steadfastly refused to even try to assign names to.

Eric swallowed. He was leaping to conclusions. He **had** to be. There was no way **that** was what Cawdron wanted to talk about. No. It was paranoia.

"What about?"

"Zafar bel Abis."

A ball of ice started to form in the pit of his stomach. Eric was certain he'd never actually heard that name before but there was an instinctive familiarity to it. "Who?"

Cawdron hesitated again before finally saying, "He was the man who orchestrated your capture...the leader of that KLA cell."

__

Nononononononono...

The image came unbidden. Cropped black hair, immaculate black beard, Arabian features, sitting behind an opulent desk in a plush office.

__

I will not let that bastard have my nightmares again.

It took every ounce of will Eric possessed to force the memories of those two months to fade back into the pit of his subconscious. When he thought he wasn't actually going to scream, he refocused his attention on Cawdron.

"What about him?"

"They've released him."

"Released him?" Eric echoed in dull disbelief.

Cawdron nodded. "It's the question you didn't ask me in Landstuhl -- what happened to your captors." Eric waited. "When the camp was...liberated, all those present -- including bel Abis -- were taken captive and, in due course, were tried as war criminals. There was some talk of asking you to testify against them but it was decided that it wouldn't be a good idea."

"I thought the high ups had decided I wasn't officially there," Eric retorted before he could stop himself.

Cawdron couldn't have looked more stunned. "No," he finally replied. "That's not the case at all."

"That isn't what General Lemont told me when I was refused further treatment for the physical scars."

Cawdron looked gut-punched. "What?"

"It's kinda hard to forget when your overall CO tells you that sorry, his hands are tied -- and that since you weren't there, you can't possibly have injuries that require more treatment."

Cawdron's mouth hinged open. "That wasn't what I was told was said."

"Do I **look** like I'm making this up?" Eric snapped.

"No."

There was an uneasy silence. Eric reigned in his temper with difficulty -- he had a nasty suspicion he was going to like the rest of Cawdron's explanations even less than he'd liked their start.

"So what about bel Abis?" he finally asked.

Cawdron blinked a moment then nodded. "His trial finally came up six months ago. In the intervening time, he managed to get himself a good lawyer and between them, built up enough of a defence that he was acquitted."

"Nice to see justice is alive and well."

Cawdron shrugged. "The major witness...the guy who would have been the major witness...was never asked to testify." Eric left the words 'you mean me' unspoken but they were palpable, and Cawdron didn't deny them. "Prosecution only had circumstantial evidence. bel Abis hid his tracks well enough that even though he'd been picked up at that camp, there was doubt that he'd been any more involved than by happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time...at least that was what the defence held to...and in the end, that was what swayed the tribunal."

"So?"

"Right after the trial, he dropped out of sight. He's now showed up again..."

"Here." Eric knew that with an almost preternatural certainty.

There was a long, frozen moment and then finally Cawdron nodded. "He was spotted coming through LAX -- purely by chance; he was travelling under a perfectly legitimate British passport and we'd not know about it at all, but for the fact that there was an Intel guy meeting his mother off the same flight. He called it in, but before anyone could do anything about it, bel Abis vanished."

"Why are you telling me this?" _Why are you dragging my nightmares back into existence?_

"Because there's been a trail of unconfirmed sightings since the confirmed hit at LAX that point in this direction. The guys in Intel want to believe that it's coincidence...so do I."

"There's no such thing as coincidence," Eric replied hoarsely.

Cawdron nodded.

Eric sat back in his chair. _Why me? Why this? Why now? Why?_ The thought repeated itself over and over and over again in the back of his mind. 

"Myers?"

The soft query was enough to pull him back into reality. It took a moment for Eric to realise that Cawdron was still there, still sitting in front of him -- although now looking deeply concerned. The unspoken question 'are you all right' hung in the silence. Eric swallowed.

"So do the guys in Intel have any ideas what he would be after?" he asked, somehow managing to keep his voice steady.

Cawdron gave a brief shrug. "No. All anyone seems to know is that he bears you a grudge."

"But why **me**?"

To Eric's surprise, Cawdron gave a faint smile. "That one I **can** answer." Eric waited. "I checked up on the other crimes men under his command were convicted for. You're the only person to make it out of that compound in one piece, and -- at least indirectly -- you're the reason they got caught."

"I guess that would piss someone off," Eric murmured.

"Wish I could have brought you some better news," Cawdron admitted. "But they felt you should know about the situation...and they figured you'd take it better from someone you knew rather than a total stranger."

"They're probably right," Eric admitted. "What do they want me to do?"

Cawdron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Nothing...other than be vigilant."

"You mean they want me to act as bait."

There was another long pause before Cawdron finally, if reluctantly, nodded. "In a manner of speaking." Eric waited. "They want you to go about your normal routine. They want you to be cautious -- but they don't want you to suddenly drop off the face of the planet."

"I see." And Eric could see. He could understand why they wanted him to go through the motions of a normal life. The intelligence gatherers would want the chance to pick up bel Abis -- and any minions he might have -- for interrogation. But that cold, hard logic was little or no comfort to him because it was very much his neck on the block. And he wasn't sure he could cope with another go round on with bel Abis and his men.

"We won't let him get to you," Cawdron promised.

"You can guarantee that, can you?" Eric retorted.

"Nothing in life is guaranteed except electrical goods, death and taxes. But we will do our best."

"And 'our best' left me in that goddamn hell hole for **two** months in the first place," Eric found himself yelling.

Cawdron winced.

Eric, for his part, regretted the statement. He knew what the circumstances had been and he knew **why** things had ended up as they had -- but it was hard to retain that line of rational thought when the nightmares and fears from those two months were threatening to resurface.

Finally he said quietly, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

Cawdron shook his head. "No. If the situation changes then we'll be in touch."

Eric nodded. He hadn't really been expecting anything else. "In that case, Colonel, I've gone from never wanting to see you again to hoping you're going to show up here tomorrow."

Cawdron smiled faintly. "I can understand that." He stood up. "Here's hoping it's tomorrow."

Moments later and Eric was alone in his office once more. Leaning forward, he propped his head on his hand and groaned. _Is there a way for this week to get any worse?_

And almost to answer the silent question his eyes fell on the desk calendar. March Twenty-Sixth. 

__

Happy fucking birthday.

~*~

The day did not improve as far as Eric was concerned.

After Cawdron's departure there was a steady string of phone calls and queries to be dealt with, when the last thing he felt up to dealing with was Silver Guardian business. He was under no illusions what a grudge as held by an ex-member of the KLA meant. It was a death sentence. Yugoslavia was the land of grudges; in Kosovo they had raised grudge holding to an art form and the most dangerous of all were the Muslim zealots who had sprung to the aid of the Kosovan Albanians. And this latter group was the one that bel Abis most assuredly belonged to.

Finally, in defeat, Eric picked up his telephone and dialled Gina's extension.

"Yes, sir?" Gina answered.

"It's been one hell of a day," Eric replied. "I think I'm going to call it quits."

There was a pause as Gina took in those words. "Of course, sir," she said, a hint of surprise and puzzlement in her voice. "Are you all right, sir?"

__

Oh yeah -- peachy Gina, just peachy. "Just a little tired -- it was a hectic weekend and yesterday didn't help."

Gina gave a chuckle. "OK. See you in the morning, then."

Eric put his receiver down and sighed. He didn't like lying to Gina -- she was too good a secretary, unlike her predecessors -- but there was no way he was explaining what Cawdron's visit had been about. She would undoubtedly guess that was the root cause of his somewhat unusual behaviour, but she wouldn't ask. That was part of what made her such a good secretary. She didn't ask the awkward questions.

Shuffling the papers on his desk into some kind of order, he picked up his discarded uniform jacket and headed for the door. As he reached the door, the phone started to ring. His first impulse was to turn around and answer it. On any other day, he knew that would be what he would do. Not today.

__

Leave a message with Gina, pal -- I am outta here.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 2: Surprise

Disclaimer: See prologue. Suffice to say, Eric, Kimberly and Alice aren't mine. Everyone else is.

Thank you to Gamine, Irina and Ekat for the beta'ing.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 2 -- Surprise

The journey home was pleasantly uneventful. Even the traffic seemed lighter than normal, although he realised that was more a function of him leaving for home a good two hours before his normal time than anything else. Pulling onto Maple Street, however, he was greeted by the sight of someone pacing the sidewalk outside his house, clearly waiting for him to arrive. As irrational as it was, he couldn't stop the sharp spike of fear that speared through his gut at the sight.

He felt immediately embarrassed when he realised the someone was Kimberly. She might have occasionally threatened him with bodily harm for spoiling her daughter but she didn't actively want him dead. Then again, he realised uneasily, he hadn't spoken to her properly in eight weeks. Not since he'd made such a royal mess of things in the aftermath of Biocon's demise.

"**There** you are!" she exclaimed before he'd even had so much as a chance to shut off the SUV's engine.

Eric blinked. However he'd been imagining the conversation starting, that was not it. "I'm sorry -- can we start this conversation again? I think I missed something along the way."

Kimberly looked suitably sheepish. "Sorry." She allowed him to switch off the engine and climb out of the vehicle. "I tried to call you at work -- but they said you'd already left."

"You must have just missed me," Eric replied, guiltily recalling that his phone had started to ring as he had been leaving. "Sorry -- it's not you...I've just had a very bad day." _Understatement of the month, Myers._

To Eric's surprise, Kimberly's expression turned concerned. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." _Just someone tell me which parallel universe I've slipped into..._ This wasn't making sense. He and Kimberly hadn't spoken properly in almost two months and the last time they had, he had gotten the distinct impression she wanted nothing much more to do with him. So why was she now acting as if that conversation hadn't happened?

"Good."

There was a long, awkward pause. "Kim -- look...um..."

"It's your birthday today," Kimberly blurted.

Eric froze. "How did you know that?"

"You told Alice," Kimberly explained.

__

"When's your birthday?"

The question appeared to be a non sequitur. "Uh, why?"

Alice smiled sweetly. "So that I can get you a birthday present."

Eric groaned softly. "I knew it was too much to hope for that she might forget that."

Kimberly snorted. "Alice? Forget something about you? She had me write it down on the calendar and she's been looking forward to today since January."

"Oh." There was not a lot else Eric could possibly say, although the concept made him feel decidedly uncomfortable. He could understand Alice being excited about her own birthday but why was she excited about his?

"Anyway." Kimberly sighed. "Alice wants you to come over this evening."

"Kim...I don't think..."

"So that she can give you your present," Kimberly interrupted hastily. "And..."

"And?" There was more?

"She's hoping you'll stay for dinner."

Eric stared for several moments, wondering if he'd heard Kimberly correct. "Dinner?" he finally echoed.

Kimberly nodded. "It's your birthday and...unless you have other plans...we...I would really like it if you did."

Eric hesitated. It was tempting to lie and say he had other plans for the evening, but all he could think of to do was getting reacquainted with good ol' Jack and Jim, and getting rip-roaring drunk was a bad idea from so many perspectives. While it would allow him to forget the day's events, it was hardly staying 'vigilant'. _And then there's the morning after... If I turn up for work tomorrow with a filthy hangover, Gina really **will **start to worry about me._ He sighed. _And I can't let Alice down._

That was when it hit him that, in spite of everything that had happened, his mood seemed to have improved just by talking to Kimberly. _Odd..._ And it slowly dawned on him that she had made a point of insisting that it wasn't just Alice who wanted him to come over. _Maybe I do still have a friend here..._

"Sure." And just when Eric didn't think the day could get much stranger, Kimberly flung her arms around his neck in a hug. "What's this for?"

Kimberly blushed and released the hold. "Like I said, Alice has been talking about it for weeks."

Eric dredged up a smile. "In that case, I can't let her down -- can I?"

Kimberly glanced at her watch. "I'm just going to collect her from her after-school club...so...is half past five good for you?"

Eric glanced at his watch. It was just coming up to five o'clock. "Sure. Gives me time to get changed." 

"Oh, I don't know," Kimberly replied as she headed for her beat up Dodge, "I think that uniform looks kinda sexy."

Eric was aware that his jaw had hinged open but he didn't seem to be able to do anything about it.

__

Did she just flirt with me?

Still with the eerie feeling that he'd somehow been transplanted into an alternate reality, one where he hadn't demonstrated what a screw-up he was, Eric shook his head. It had to be just friendly banter. There was no way Kimberly would be interested in him like that for real, not now.

He shook his head again. _C'mon -- you promised you'd be there for dinner, and it'll be cold by the time you show up at this rate. Don't fuck this up again._

Turning back to the SUV, he locked it and set the alarm -- it wouldn't prevent someone from tampering with it, but it might give him some kind of advance warning -- then he headed into his home to have a much needed shower.

~*~

At twenty past five, feeling unaccountably nervous, Eric vaulted the wall that separated his meagre front yard from Kimberly's and knocked on her front door.

  
"Eric!" Alice squealed as she opened the door. "Happy birthday!"

Before he could do or say anything, she had flung herself at him in a wild bear hug that actually drove him back a pace. Eric found himself chuckling at the greeting. "Hey, Alice -- how're you doing?"

"I've missed you," she announced. She looked up at him. "But you're here now so that's OK."

He had no chance to process that statement as he found himself being suddenly grabbed by the hand and dragged into the house and through to the kitchen, where Kimberly was putting the finishing touches to the table.

"Happy birthday," Kimberly said, putting down a bowl of salad.

Eric's jaw worked without any coherent sounds actually coming out. The table looked loaded. A bowl of salad, a basket of fragrantly steaming garlic bread, a large and equally steaming pizza...there was even what looked like a bottle of wine -- although a closer inspection revealed that to be grape juice. It was more food for one meal than Eric thought he'd eaten in the last week. _Wow...!_

"I hope cheese pizza's OK," Kimberly continued, straightening. "I figured it was probably a safe bet."

Eric managed to gather his self-possession back together to nod. "It's fine...thank you."

Kimberly smiled. "Have a seat."

"Can I get his presents?" Alice asked.

__

Presents? Plural? Eric found himself thinking as he mechanically took the seat Kimberly had indicated.

"Good idea," Kimberly agreed.

"Yay!" Alice dashed off into her bedroom.

"You guys really didn't have to..." Eric began.

Kimberly smiled. "We didn't have to," she agreed, "but we wanted to."

Eric found himself smiling shyly. After the day he'd had this all seemed a little too good to be true, but he wasn't about to start complaining. "Thank you."

Preventing any further 'grown up' talk, Alice returned, bearing two, large, flat packages done up in Winnie-the-Pooh wrapping paper. Eric fought hard not to laugh at that. Kimberly looked slightly apologetic. He shook his head as much to say 'don't worry about it' and smiled.

"This is from me, an' this one's from mommy," Alice announced, waving each parcel in turn.

If Eric was any judge, Kimberly had probably done the wrapping on both. "Which one would you like me to open first?" he asked.

"Mommy's," Alice insisted, thrusting the left hand parcel forwards at him.

It was something of a surprise to Eric to realise that his hands were shaking as he tried to undo the paper. He hadn't been kidding when he'd told Jen he couldn't remember the last time anyone had bothered over his birthday. He glanced up, aware that Kimberly was looking at him a little puzzled.

"Never been very good with wrapping paper," he admitted.

Kimberly smiled. "Find me the man who is."

Eric chuckled, finally succeeding in getting the paper open. The laughter died on his lips as his eyes fell on a beautiful, framed panoramic photograph of a lake. The water was so still that the surrounding scenery was perfectly reflected in the water's surface. It would have been hard to judge which way up it was supposed to hang but for a duck serenely swimming across the image.

"Do you like it?" Kimberly asked.

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

"Now mine," Alice ordered as Eric carefully set the frame down beside his chair.

Feeling this package, Eric guessed it was another frame. Hand still shaking somewhat, he managed the paper rather better this time, revealing a framed poster that loudly proclaimed: Everything I needed to know, I learned from Star Wars...

"Cos I know you like 'Star Wars'," Alice explained.

Eric recalled the evening's baby-sitting when that little titbit about himself had come to light. Alice had insisted he watch a video with her. He had complained a little for a start, since he'd actually brought some Silver Guardian paperwork home to do, but his protests had died a swift death when she'd produced a copy of 'A New Hope'. It was a film that had provided one of the pitifully few really bright spots to his childhood and to his relationship with his mother.

__

"You're a grown up," Alice had complained, on discovering that he not only liked the film but knew large chunks of the dialogue.

__

"So?" he had retorted. _"I was the same age as you are now when I first saw this film."_

She had looked at him in complete bemusement, clearly trying to picture him being the same age as her, shaken her head and settled back to enjoy the film. After that it had become standard operating practice for baby-sitting that once a month, one of the Star Wars films would be dusted off and watched.

"Do you like it?" Alice asked, breaking his train of thought.

Eric glanced at the various mottoes written across the bottom of the picture. "Yes - thank you." He grinned. "You can help me hang them if you like."

"Cool!"

"After you've eaten," Kimberly suggested, smiling. "Pizza's getting cold."

~*~

Eric knew it was a cliché but he really couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun. Dinner had been wonderful -- and so had the company. So much so that it made a mockery of his resolution to leave. _It's gonna hurt like hell if I do leave,_ he found himself musing while he banged in a nail from which to hang one of the two frames. _But it's gonna hurt like hell if I stay._

"Here," offered Alice, handing him a second nail.

"Thank you." With a couple of hammer blows, the second nail was into place on the mark he'd made. "Let's see if that's straight." Carefully, Eric hooked the frame clips over the two nails and took a step back. "What do you think? That straight?"

Alice regarded the frame for a moment. "Yep."

Eric glanced at his watch and noted that it was still not yet half past six. He wasn't used to eating quite so early. On a sudden impulse not to have this particular evening end, he turned to Alice. "What say we go to the park for a bit?" he suggested.

Alice beamed. "Yay!"

"Let's go see if your mom's finished the dishes yet." 

Eric had offered to help Kimberly with the washing up, but she had pointedly told him, _"It's your birthday. You don't do chores on your birthday."_ With a mischievous grin she'd added, _"Unless it's picture hanging. Go on!"_ She had pointed to the door and before he could say anything else, Alice had grabbed him by the hand and started pulling. There had seemed little point in resisting after that.

"Cool!" Alice exclaimed, pulling him back to the present, and dragging him, once more, in the direction of the backdoor -- this time his own.

"Has anyone told you your daughter has Borg ancestry somewhere in her past?" Eric complained as he re-entered Kimberly's kitchen. At Kimberly's blank look, he added, "You know, the whole 'resistance is futile' bit?"

Kimberly grinned. "Out stubborning a six year old -- bad idea."

"I'd spotted that."

"We're going to the park," Alice announced at that moment.

"Your idea or hers?" Kimberly wanted to know.

"Mine -- but she wasn't complaining," Eric answered.

"I bet. I don't see why not, although," she added, "we can't stay too long -- you have school tomorrow, young lady."

"OK." Alice bounced up and down. "C'mon!"

Eric chuckled. "The park isn't going anywhere." To Kimberly he added, "Do you want to take your car or mine?"

"Yours," Kimberly answered, "if that's OK -- mine's overheating again."

Eric started to nod, then it hit him: bel Abis. Reality came pouring in like a shower of icy water. This whole evening was stupid and careless. What if it turned bel Abis' attention onto Kimberly and Alice? What if bel Abis had done something to the SUV? What if...

__

Stop it! Eric's mental shout stopped the babbling. _Intel wanted me to go about my normal routine. I've got to trust that they're doing their jobs otherwise I'm going to go insane._ He swallowed. _This is going to be OK,_ he reminded himself.

He realised that Kimberly was staring at him.

"OK?" she asked.

Eric forced himself to smile. "Of course."

Kimberly looked sceptical enough that Eric knew she wasn't prepared to let him off with that answer. To his surprise, however, she said nothing during the whole drive to the park and he began to think that maybe she would let it lie.

As they entered the park, Alice gave a whoop of joy on spotting several of her school friends already in the play area. Barely waiting for Kimberly's permission, she dashed off to join in the games. 

"Are you OK?" Kimberly asked as she and Eric sat down on a convenient seat.

Eric sighed. _So much for letting it lie._

"I know we haven't talked recently."

That caught him off guard. "I guess we haven't."

"We've missed you," Kimberly admitted. Eric risked a quick glance at her to see she was looking apologetic. "I didn't deal too well with things...and I should have realised you weren't up to that kind of conversation. I'm sorry."

Eric blinked, definitely off guard at that. "But I..."

Kimberly shook her head. "You tried to explain and I didn't give you the chance." She offered her hand to him. "Friends?"

Eric found himself smiling as he accepted the hand. "Of course."

Kimberly's attention wandered back to Alice, who was engaged in a loud game of tag. "You **are** OK?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah."

He felt her gaze turn on him. He didn't risk meeting it. "I'd have thought you'd be a better liar than that," she observed quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when your life was in a constant state of danger because of Ransik you were never jumpy...nor when all that shit was going down over Dirk and then Biocon. Whatever it is now, it can't be nothing."

Damn, but she was perceptive. "It's just...work trouble. I've gotten used to having Wes around to share the workload -- and he's in Europe for the next three weeks...and I get the feeling you're not buying this."

"That would be a nope," Kimberly agreed. "Has anyone ever told you you're a lousy liar?"

"A few people," he admitted, sighing. "Sorry."

"Why do you do it?" Kimberly asked.

"Defence mechanism." He could feel Kimberly staring at him again. "I know -- it's fucked up."

"That wasn't what I was thinking," Kimberly replied. Eric's head jerked round and he finally met her gaze to see her not so much glaring at him as studying him.

"Oh?" he finally said.

"I was wondering who hurt you so badly."

Eric had no response to that. He looked away again.

"I won't push," Kimberly continued. "But if you want to talk..."

Eric sighed. "I had someone pay me a visit this morning -- someone I've not seen in nearly three years," he admitted quietly. "He didn't exactly stir up some great memories." Eric slowly shook his head. "Stuff I don't really like talking about. There are some things about me you're better off not knowing." He glanced at her, to see Kimberly frowning. "I didn't put that very well."

"No kidding," she agreed. "Don't you trust me?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to organise his thoughts a little better. "It's not an issue of trust...I do trust you."

"Good." Kimberly looked relieved, but still puzzled.

"I'm an ex-marine. There is a bunch of stuff that I've done I can't talk about."

"And probably a bunch more you don't want to tell me about," Kimberly guessed.

Eric nodded. "Just because I had to live through it doesn't mean that you -- or anyone else -- should have to."

"Eric, I've been to other worlds...other dimensions...seen my friends get hurt...seen my friends forced to serve evil...been forced to serve evil myself... Been married to Dirk Cunningham for four years. There is nothing you could tell me that would scare me," Kimberly promised.

__

This just might, Eric replied silently. _I can't risk that._

"And what if I want to share those nightmares with you?" she added quietly.

Eric froze for a second. Did she mean what he thought she did? "Don't. Please. Kimberly. You don't want to get that close to me. I'm..." Eric sighed. "I'm damaged goods."

He could feel Kimberly's eyes boring into him. "Damaged goods?" she finally echoed, her voice filled with incredulity.

"You said it yourself," Eric replied. "Someone hurt me, badly. In every sense of the phrase. I'm not... You don't need my emotional baggage."

"Eric, if all this is just because you don't like me as anything other than a friend, just say so," Kimberly retorted. "Don't fob me off with weak excuses."

"I do like you. Under other circumstances I'd...I'd have probably long since asked you out. But you don't deserve someone who comes with a full set of paranoia and psychoses."

"And don't I get any say in the matter?" Kimberly retorted angrily. "Eric not only am I a grown woman who is fully capable of making her own judgements, I am a mother. Now, my daughter saw something in you, something you clearly can't see for yourself, that made me start to look -- and I think I can see what it is. You're a good man, Eric. You're loyal. You're kind. You're the first guy I've met since I was sixteen who didn't treat me as either an object or as the scum of the earth -- and that is so rare..." Kimberly trailed off and shook her head. "I can take it, Eric, if you'll give me the chance."

"And when I wake up in the middle of the night screaming?" he shot back.

There was a long, tense silence. Eric wished he could take the words back. They were too honest -- it was too much truth. She was bound to walk away now she knew just how screwed up he really was.

"Know something," Kimberly eventually said. "I'd love to get my hands on whoever did this to you."

Eric's head snapped round to look at her. "Why?"

Kimberly offered him a smile. "Because I'd like to give back to them what they've done to you. You don't deserve this."

Eric got the sudden mental image of Kimberly going toe-to-toe with bel Abis and couldn't help but smile faintly in return. "You'd give him a good run for his money."

"So I should hope." Kimberly sighed. "I can take it," she repeated. "Let me help you. Please."

There was something both tempting and terrifying about telling Kimberly about bel Abis. Tempting because it would allow her to understand him. Terrifying because that understanding would almost certainly drive her away for good.

And then the decision was taken out of his hands altogether as Alice bounded over.

"Mommy, are you gonna come push me on the swings?" she asked.

"You know, I think a big girl of six can push herself on the swings," Kimberly replied with a smile. Alice pouted. "Why don't you see if Eric will?"

Eric found himself on the receiving end of a look that would have made a puppy dog envious. Deciding that if he went with Alice he could put off the rest of his discussion with Kimberly, he held out a hand to Alice. "Lead me to those swings."

"Yay!"

She grabbed the proffered hand and dragged him off the bench in the direction of the swings.

"Can I ask you a question?" Alice asked as she settled herself on the seat of the nearest swing.

"Sure you can," Eric replied.

"Who do you have?"

As he started to push the swing, Eric frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Alice sighed with exaggerated patience. "I have mommy, Wes has Jen -- who do you have?"

Eric opened and shut his mouth a few times. "I...well..."

"You do have someone, don't you?" Alice added artlessly. "Everybody should or else they'll be lonely."

"I...have my friends, you, your mom..."

Alice huffed in annoyance, cutting him off. Although he couldn't see her expression, Eric got the distinct impression that she was rolling her eyes.

"I don't mean like that," she finally said, "I mean someone special."

"Oh."

"So do you?"

Eric sighed. "No," he finally admitted.

"That's good." He waited for the other shoe to drop. "That means you can share mommy with me."

__

Tag team effort, Kimberly? Not fair. "'Fraid it doesn't quite work like that."

"Why not?" Alice asked. "I know she likes you."

"Well..."

"Is it because you don't like her?"

"No!" Eric answered hastily. "No -- I like her a lot. And you for that matter."

"Then where's the problem?" Alice wondered.

Eric glanced around the park, seeking inspiration as to how he could explain what the problem was in terms that a six-year-old could grasp. "It's..." His questing gaze fell on an out-of-place sight. A man of Middle Eastern origin, dressed in pressed slacks and a button down shirt, who was staring straight back. Eric's mouth dried in fear.

"It's...?" Alice prompted.

"I think it's time we were heading for home. You have school tomorrow," Eric managed to answer, forcing himself to look away from the observer.

"Oh, but..." Alice whined.

"Alice, this isn't a debate." He stilled the swing to enable her to slide off the seat.

"If I come quietly, will you ask mommy out?" she wheedled.

"I'll think about it," Eric replied, glancing around to spot the observer again, only to realise that he had vanished. _Or maybe he wasn't there in the first place._ Somehow that was a worse thought. "C'mon. Let's go get your mom and head home."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Chapter 3: Flight

Disclaimers: See the prologue. I don't own anyone but the motel clerk.

Additional warning: In case anyone reading this has forgotten, this IS R rated.

With thanks to Gamine, Irina and Ekat for the beta'ing once more. Thank you ladies, you are wonderful!

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 3 -- Flight

The journey back to Maple Street was a silent one. Alice had tired herself out in the park and she quickly fell asleep in the back of the SUV. Kimberly seemed content to watch the scenery go by, which left Eric drifting deeply into thought.

Had he imagined the man in the park?

Part of him wanted to believe he had. But if that were true, it meant he was already starting to crack, which was an unpalatable thought. Part of him wanted to put it all down to coincidence -- but, as he'd told Cawdron that morning, he didn't believe in those. All of which left him with an even more unpalatable idea: bel Abis had not only found him, but was having him watched.

"That's the fourth fire truck to pass us," Kimberly commented, dragging him from his thoughts.

"Fourth?" he echoed.

"Back with us?" Kimberly replied, faint amusement in her voice.

"Sorry."

"Something happened -- in the park," Kimberly observed.

She really was perceptive. "Something," he murmured non-committally. "That was really the fourth fire truck?"

"Uh-huh. And don't change the subject."

A shiver of fear travelled the length of Eric's spine. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"About what?"

Eric shook his head. "Just pray I'm being paranoid."

He turned onto Ninth Avenue, off which Maple Street had been built. As he did so, he noticed a black Plymouth Prowler pull onto Ninth Avenue just behind him. It could be something thoroughly innocent and yet there was something about the situation that just screamed _wrong!_

"Shit."

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"Do me a favour, Kim," Eric replied. "See the Prowler two cars back?"

"Uh-huh."

"Keep an eye on him."

"Why?" she asked, fixing her attention on the SUV's rear view mirror all the same.

"Because I think he's following us."

"You really are paranoid."

Eric smiled wryly. "In my case, just because I'm paranoid it doesn't mean they aren't out to get me."

"Oh boy do I pick 'em," Kimberly muttered.

Eric made no comment. Maple Street was coming up on the right. He indicated and took the turn.

"Prowler's turned onto Maple Street," Kimberly reported.

Eric grimaced. If they knew what car he drove... But that thought ground to a halt as his eyes fell on the sight that greeted him. Ahead, and blocking the road, were the four fire trucks, all attending a huge blaze that was centred on what had been his home.

"Fuck."

Eric glanced in the rear view mirror. The Prowler seemed to be coming to a halt in such a way as to block him in.

"Fuck."

Ignoring Kimberly's half formed protests, Eric concentrated on the task at hand, namely escaping bel Abis' trap. He threw the SUV into reverse and whipped the vehicle round in a turn that would have had his high school Drivers' Ed teacher in tears and his marine instructor smiling proudly. Before the car had even finished that manoeuvre, he forced it back into drive and, with a squeal of tyres, gunned it towards the narrow gap that the startled Prowler driver was hastily attempting to fill.

"You are **not **going to get the SUV through that gap!" Kimberly exclaimed.

"Watch me," Eric shot back tersely.

The Prowler driver wasn't quick enough. Eric squeezed through the gap and raced back towards Ninth Avenue. Making a right turn onto Ninth, he set about plotting a nicely circuitous route to the interstate.

  
"What's going on?" Kimberly asked.

"I'll tell you later -- just keep an eye out for anyone tailing us," Eric replied.

Half an hour passed in tense silence as Eric piloted the SUV through the suburbs of Silverhills.

"I think we're clear," Kimberly finally said.

"Good."

"Now what?"

"Now," Eric answered, pulling onto the southbound interstate, "we get the hell outta here."

~*~

An hour passed by in strained silence as Eric drove south. Finally, however, Kimberly could stand it no longer.

"Do I get an explanation or are you just going to retreat into silence until we hit the border?"

"It's a long story."

"After what happened back there, it had **better** be a long story," Kimberly retorted.

Eric flinched. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you and Alice sucked into this mess."

The lost and broken tone to Eric's voice cut through Kimberly's own anxieties and for the first time in more than an hour, she actively looked at him. It was hard to judge from his profile -- particularly in the gathering gloom of dusk -- but it looked to her as though Eric was...

"Pull over," Kimberly ordered.

"Wha...?"

"Eric, you said you trusted me...just pull over."

Kimberly noted that he didn't argue any further. Instead, he pulled off to the side of the interstate. It didn't surprise her that the SUV had hardly stopped before Eric had stumbled out of it. Nor did it surprise her to see him get less than a yard away from the car before doubling over and vomiting.

"Reaction," Kimberly muttered, undoing her seatbelt, "is a bitch."

Checking that Alice was still fast asleep on the back seat, she climbed out of the SUV and made for the rear of the vehicle. She smiled faintly as she opened the tailgate and her eyes fell on the assorted bits and pieces Eric seemed to carry 'just in case' which included a bottle of water and a box of tissues.

She picked them up and then headed over to where Eric was still bent double. Wordlessly she offered the bottle to him. Equally silently he accepted it. She watched as he rinsed his mouth out.

"Better?" she asked, offering the tissues.

"I guess." His reply was quiet as he took a tissue out of the box and started to clean himself up. "How'd you know?"

Kimberly smiled faintly. "I'm a mom -- I'm good at picking the signs."

Slowly, Eric straightened. He still looked pale but, Kimberly decided, not the luridly pale that had so alarmed her a scant five minutes earlier.

"Thanks -- I think."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Kimberly asked.

"Marines -- even ex-marines -- aren't supposed to react like that." 

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Macho bullshit doesn't suit you."

"Besides -- I didn't want to worry you."

Kimberly sighed. "OK. Let's get one thing perfectly clear here, buddy. I do not need to be wrapped in cotton. Whatever the explanations are, I can take them." Eric opened his mouth to say something, but Kimberly shook her head. "To put it another way, would you be soft-soaping me if I was Jen?"

"No -- but..."

"No buts," Kimberly retorted firmly. "I may not have her formal training but that doesn't mean I'm helpless or a damsel to be protected. I was kicking bad-guy butt when I was fifteen and you've met Dirk," she added somewhat wryly.

Eric looked sheepish. "I'm sorry."

Kimberly smiled. "Apology accepted."

"We need to hit the road again -- won't take them long to figure out what I'm likely to have done," Eric commented.

"Right." Kimberly nodded. "Did you have somewhere in mind?"

"There's a Novotel just east of Malibu -- I was thinking of breaking there."

"OK. We'll get going then." Kimberly watched, somewhat amused, as Eric automatically made for the driver's side. "Uh-uh. Passenger side, buddy." Eric opened his mouth to say something then closed it again and meekly headed for the passenger side. "You can give the explanations when we get to the Novotel -- right now, you need some rest."

"Yes ma'am." But there was no sarcasm to the comment as he sank into the passenger seat of the SUV.

Kimberly wasn't surprised when Eric fell asleep before she'd even got properly onto the road. She risked a glance in his direction and slowly shook her head. Whatever this was, she was certain of one thing: It was trouble that Eric didn't deserve.

~*~

It was the sound of the SUV engine cutting out that finally woke Eric.

"How do you feel?" Kimberly asked.

"Better," Eric replied, and realised that it wasn't just a reflex answer -- he really did feel better. It was the first time in a long while that he hadn't even so much as dreamed, never mind had a nightmare.

Kimberly seemed to sense his train of thought. "Good."

Looking around, Eric realised they were in a car park. "Where are we?"

"The Novotel just east of Malibu," Kimberly replied. "And it's a little after ten o'clock in the evening.

Eric turned to face her, more than a little surprised. "What the hell speed were you driving?!"

Kimberly chuckled. "Speed limit is only something that applies when you see a cop -- or when you're driving round town." Eric's eyes widened. "I'm kidding. I was doing maybe eighty. Eighty-five tops. Besides," she added, "you must have been going some before we pulled over."

Eric found himself blushing as he realised he probably had been paying scant attention to his speed -- or his surroundings for that matter. _Just as well she made you pull over,_ he reflected.

"So. Do you want to go see about a room?" Kimberly asked.

Eric nodded. "Sure." He opened the passenger door to climb out. "Coming?"

"No -- I'll wait here with Alice."

Eric glanced back and realised the six-year-old was still fast asleep. "She slept through the whole thing?" he asked incredulous.

Kimberly chuckled. "Be thankful that she did."

Eric thought about that for a second. "I think I am."

He slid out of the SUV and headed across to reception. The night clerk looked sleepy and bored; although he made an effort to perk up a little as Eric entered reception.

"Can I help?" the clerk asked.

Eric bit back a grin as that effort was completely ruined by a cavernous yawn. The clerk looked embarrassed. "I'd like two rooms."

"Double, twin, single, connecting?"

Eric frowned for a moment, mentally translating what the clerk had said into plain English. "One double room, one twin. Connecting."

"How many nights?"

Eric frowned again, this time debating his own answer. "If I say two for now -- can I increase that if my plans change?"

The clerk looked a little surprised. "Sure."

__

Guess you're more used to the Mr and Mrs Smiths coming out here for a one-night stand, huh? "OK -- two nights."

"Smoking or non?"

"Non."

"How many adults? How many children?"

"Two and one."

The clerk looked up. "You sure you want two rooms rather than a suite?"

Eric shrugged. "What's the difference?"

"It's ten dollars more, but you get a kitchenette as well."

__

If I thought we'd be holing up here permanently, I'd probably say yes, but... "No -- I'll stick with the two rooms."

"Name, please?"

"Myers."

"OK -- one moment." The clerk started scribbling details into the motel register. "Credit card, please."

Eric handed over the piece of plastic and waited while the clerk printed off the card receipt, then signed it when it was proffered. A few moments later and the clerk produced two keys.

"Rooms 402 and 403. Fourth floor. Do you need a hand with baggage?"

Eric shook his head. "No -- thank you."

Eric headed back to the SUV. Kimberly had obviously decided to stretch her legs a little while she'd been waiting as she was now standing beside the car. Languidly she brought her left arm across her chest, bringing the right arm up in front of it to pull, stretching her left shoulder. Then she repeated the move for the right shoulder. For the second time that evening, Eric felt his mouth go dry -- but this time it was anything but through fear. Damn but she was graceful! _Get a **grip** Myers -- the **last** thing you need right now is to let yourself get distracted._

Then Kim stretched her hamstrings by bending right over, leaving Eric with a view that sent his blood rushing south at dizzying speed. _This is just lust. It's just situation. It's not real._ He swallowed, hard. _This is **not** the time for this! It's bad enough bel Abis knows about her -- don't make it worse._

There was a chuckle. "So there is a guy in there after all -- I was beginning to wonder."

The blood that had rushed south suddenly headed north as Eric found himself blushing fit to give a beetroot a serious case of envy. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Kimberly straightened and turned to face him. "Don't be. I don't mind. Just don't go all Neanderthal on me and start wolf-whistling." The words and tone were serious but there was a spark of humour dancing in her eyes as she said them.

Eric found himself chuckling weakly. "Do I look like the sorta guy who wolf-whistles women?"

Kimberly grinned. "You tell me."

Eric sighed. _Myers you're being a complete idiot. Knock it off and get moving._ "I got us two rooms," he said, finally joining Kimberly beside the SUV and trying to ignore the pout she gave him for the subject change.

She nodded. "OK."

"Do you want me to carry Alice in?"

Kimberly tipped her head on one side. "You think you can do it without waking her up?" Eric nodded. "Then be my guest." Eric moved to open one of the rear doors to pick up the sleeping six-year-old. "Want me to carry the bag?"

"Bag?" Eric repeated blankly.

Kimberly opened the tailgate and produced his 'emergency' bag. "This bag -- I'm kinda presuming you have clothes in there, amongst other things?" Eric nodded. "If I bring this in, at least it **sorta** looks like we're on holiday rather than on the run."

Eric looked sheepish. "Good point."

Five minutes later, with Alice -- still asleep -- in his arms and the SUV securely locked up, Eric led Kimberly across to reception.

The night clerk looked up as they entered. Seeing Eric's arms were full with sleeping child, he turned his attention to Kimberly. "Mrs Myers -- ah, can you give me the license plate of your vehicle, just so's we don't tow it accidentally."

Inwardly, Eric cringed. He'd said nothing about who the other adult was -- the night clerk was just assuming...but he had to admit, they did **look** like they might be a family...which was strangely not as uncomfortable a thought as it might have been.

Without missing a beat, Kimberly smiled at Eric. "Honey, do you want to take Alice on up while I deal with this?"

"I can..." Eric felt Kimberly's gaze bore through him. "Sure."

As he made for the stairs, behind him he heard, "Will a vehicle description do? Neither my husband nor I can ever remember the darn plate number..."

Five minutes or so later, just as Eric started to lay Alice down on one of the single beds in the twin room, Kimberly joined him.

"I didn't know you were such a good liar," he observed.

"I didn't know we were married," Kimberly retorted.

"Ah...yeah..." Eric gulped. "Um..." He looked round and realised Kimberly was grinning. "You know that wasn't anything I said," he observed.

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "He's bored. All he gets to see are couples." She shrugged and chuckled. "It was worth it to see your face, though."

Eric sighed. "When you've finished having fun at my expense," he muttered.

Kimberly chuckled again. "I'm only teasing."

"I know -- I just..." He sighed again. "Never mind." Kimberly looked puzzled. Eric just shook his head. "I'll...ah...leave you to put Alice to bed."

"Do you have a spare t-shirt in that bag?" Kim asked, gesturing to where she'd set the bag down.

Eric stared, surprised and a little confused by the rapid change of subject. "Yeah."

"May I borrow it?"

A sudden, vivid image flashed across Eric's mind of Kimberly in his spare t-shirt and nothing else. "Sure -- help yourself." He headed into the other room before he embarrassed himself further, fairly sure that Kimberly had a pretty good idea of why he'd made such a hasty retreat.

__

A shower, he decided, _is what I need. Give me a chance to get my head together before Kim starts demanding explanations._ He smiled wryly. _Preferably a cold one._

~*~

It took a little doing, but Kimberly eventually got Alice changed into her t-shirt and tucked into bed. She then rummaged through Eric's bag until she found his spare t-shirt and pulled it on.

__

Time to see if I can get an explanation.

She knocked on the connecting door, which Eric had closed behind him when he'd left. When there was no response, she opened the door and slid into Eric's room. He was not immediately apparent, but the sound of the shower running told Kimberly where he was.

"Eric?" she called, to alert him to her presence.

"Be with you in a moment," came the reply.

Kimberly nodded. "OK."

Even as she replied, the water was shut off. She sat down on the bed and glanced around the room. It was rather unspectacular as motel rooms went -- just the bare minimum of furniture: Bed, dresser, two chairs and a table on which a TV that looked as if it had seen better days had been placed. _Basic,_ Kimberly decided, _but I guess that doesn't matter._

Then her eyes fell on something draped over the back of one of the chairs: The t-shirt Eric had been wearing. Kimberly stared, wide eyed. _What the...?_ Why had he left that behind? Did it mean he'd undressed in the room? Was he about to walk out of the bathroom completely naked? But another survey of the room didn't reveal his jeans.

"I guess you want that explanation now, huh?" Eric asked quietly from the bathroom door, distracting Kimberly's train of thought.

Looking up, Kimberly suddenly found the room was a lot hotter and more airless than before. He was leaning casually against the doorpost, white motel towel draped around his neck. She found her eyes slowly travelling from his bare feet, up the length of his jeans-clad legs, over the expanse of well-defined stomach and chest to see the faintly amused expression on his face and his still-damp hair, which was sticking up in little spikes.

"Uh..." Kimberly swallowed. "Explanations are good," she finally managed.

He chuckled humourlessly. "Just remember, you were the one who asked not to be soft-soaped." Dumbly, Kimberly nodded. "I was a marine for eight years. During what turned into my final posting, in Kosovo, I was taken captive by a cell of the Kosova Liberation Army under the command of a man named Zafar bel Abis. I spent two months in his...'care' before being 'liberated' by UN Weapons Inspectors."

Slowly, Eric pushed away from the doorpost and turned so that his back was to Kimberly.

She could only stare in silent shock. Stark against Eric's natural skin colour were four, livid, quarter-inch wide scars that ran horizontally right across his lower back and snaked round onto his right side. Between them, she could see fainter marks that suggested that the whole of his lower back was a mass of scar tissue.

Kimberly swallowed. "What happened?" she asked.

"bel Abis' men had...interesting ways of persuading me to give them information," he replied, turning back to face her again.

"You mean they tortured you," Kimberly stated.

"That's one word for it," Eric agreed.

Kimberly felt a surge of hot, boiling rage. "How can people do that to another human being?"

"You're asking the wrong guy," Eric replied. "I was just the poor sap they tapped for information. Apparently," he added in a horrible parody of humour, "I'm unique -- or so my former CO told me this morning."

Kimberly couldn't still the shudder as the pieces started to drop into place in her mind. "This guy...bel Abis -- he's still out there?"

"Still out there and bears me a grudge for not only surviving but indirectly leading to him getting charged for war crimes. It's a grudge he's had three years to work on." Eric gave an apparently careless shrug.

"He's the guy who's after you, isn't he?"

"Yep."

Kimberly studied the way Eric was now standing. He was leaning against the doorpost again, as though he was completely at ease but she could almost literally see the tension rolling off him in waves. Or was it fear? In a sudden bolt of insight, Kimberly understood. He was scared. Scared of what bel Abis might do, but more scared of what she was going to do.

Slowly, she stood up and closed the gap between them. "How many people know about what happened to you?" she asked softly. Eric shrugged. Kimberly read the gesture as a sign that she was on the right track. "And how many of them ran away?" Eric's eyes widened at the question. And that confirmed it. "I'm not running, Eric."

"Why?" he whispered, and Kimberly could hear the disbelief in the word.

She looked up and met his gaze. "Because there's nothing to run from." She lightly traced the portion of the top scar that was within her reach with her fingers, feeling him flinch away from the touch. For a second, she wondered if it was through pain, but the surprised expression on his face suggested the flinch was more involuntary than anything else, as though no-one had ever wanted to touch the scars. "This isn't anything to run from." She traced the second scar and again he flinched. "This isn't you." She traced the third scar, watching as he struggled to control the reflex. "This doesn't define you." She traced the bottom scar. This time, no flinch. "This is something that was done to you, but it doesn't change who you are."

Eric stared at her. Kimberly refused to back down from the stare. "And who do you think I am?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper now.

"You are Eric Myers. A good man who's seen a lot of bad things." His head dropped, breaking eye contact. She reached out and gently lifted his head, forcing him to meet her gaze once more. "And you are the guy I trust, not just with my life, but with the life of my daughter. I believe in you, Eric."

He looked stunned. "Kim...I...I don't know."

She smiled reassuringly. "It's OK. It's going to be OK."

"How can you be so sure?" This time, the disbelief was replaced by wonder.

"Because I know you," Kimberly replied, simply. Gently, she drew her hand along the line of his jaw and to her surprise he reflexively leaned into the touch.

"We should probably get some sleep," Eric murmured.

Kimberly smiled again, judging that Eric wasn't ready for any more emotional honesty, and nodded. "Yeah -- we probably should." She withdrew her hand, and heard him give a barely audible sigh.

"I...guess I'll see you in the morning." Eric seemed reluctant to let her actually leave.

"Oh, you can count on that," Kimberly replied.

Eric gave a weak smile in response. "Sleep well, then."

Kimberly nodded, stepping away from him. "And you." She crossed the room to the connecting door, then turned back to him. "G'night."

"Good night," he replied, nodding. 

She headed into her own room, pulling the door shut behind her. 

~*~

Eric watched the door close behind her and felt his knees start to buckle. He hadn't expected her to accept the scars and what had happened in Kosovo -- and to hear her say she trusted him and believed in him...

__

And she meant it, too.

It was both wonderful and terrifying.

It was a great gift, but it put the onus on him to get them all out of this situation.

__

I'll phone Cawdron first thing in the morning, he decided. _There's bound to be some sort of plan._

He made it across to the bed and sat down. Sleep was starting to look better and better. Pitching the towel in the general direction of the bathroom, he lay down, turned the light down low and closed his eyes.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Chapter 4: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

See the prologue for disclaimers; I don't own anyone but a few unfortunate lackeys.

With thanks to Gamine, Ekat, Ecolea, Irina, Vanessa, Selma and Chris who've all read parts of this chapter at various points and offered me feedback. Much appreciated folks.

Additional warning: Yes, this IS R rated.

Please offer feedback, it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 4 -- Nightmares and Dreamscapes

"Istekao!"

The command was the first thing anyone had actually said to Eric in a long while. A week, he thought, but the perpetual darkness in which he'd been kept had played hell with his sense of time. In fact, the only reason he knew time really had passed was the growth of stubble on his chin.

"Istekao!"

This time, the command was accompanied by two sets of hands grabbing at his arms and dragging him to his feet. Eric staggered, dizzy at suddenly being forced upright. He didn't have time to complain as the hands' owners dragged him out of the cell.

It took several yards of corridor before it really dawned on Eric that this might be his chance to get free. Just the thought of escape managed to wake the rest of his mind and suddenly he was on full alert. His two guards were both big, burly men -- no chance of escape here, but maybe he could make something. There were no other guards around -- no other people in fact. Maybe he could...

Then Eric realised where they were headed: The gothic torture chamber he'd been shown on his first day in this place. But the realisation came too late -- the two guards forced him through the doorway before he could fight back.

Inside the room, Eric noted there were six more men, all big and heavyset. The two who had collected him from his cell followed him into the chamber, making eight guards in total.

"Kleknuti!"

One of the men gestured towards the centre of the room where a set of handcuffs was hanging down on a chain.

"Kleknuti!"

The command was repeated and accompanied by someone attempting to force him to kneel.

"No fucking chance!"

Before the men could react, Eric twisted out of his guards' grip and launched into an attack. He shoulder charged one man, driving him back into the wall with a sickening thud. Pivoting, he snapped a kick at the next man, catching him hard in the groin. That man went down retching. A third man was felled by a blow to the throat -- _Not quite on target_, Eric noted absently, _he's still breathing_ -- while a fourth was taken out with a sharp kick to his knee. The crack from that injury was almost loud enough to echo.

But as Eric moved towards the door, someone grabbed hold of his shoulder. Without needing to think, he reached for the hand, intending to break the hold -- and possibly the arm it was attached to -- when something was jabbed against his spine.

He had just long enough to wonder whether he was about to be shot and then thirty thousand volts poured into his body.

There was a long, long moment when every single nerve, synapse and fibre of his body screamed in complete and utter agony. And then it all stopped.

Some unknown time later, he finally regained full consciousness and found himself kneeling. His hands were cuffed and held above his head by the chain the cuffs were suspended from.

"And now," said a voice in almost perfect English, "we will play a game, Sergeant Myers."

"What do you want?" Eric tried to reply, but all that came out was a garbled grunt, combined with a fresh burst of pain. _Musta bitten my tongue..._

"Eric, wake up!"

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder. It didn't strike him as odd that his hands were suddenly free from the cuffs, he just reacted. Grabbing at the hand, he pulled. In a blur of movement, he had his attacker on the ground, pinned beneath him.

"Eric...?"

The first thing he realised was that his attacker seemed a lot smaller than any of the guards he'd previously dealt with. That, though, didn't seem important. All that mattered was that the attacker wasn't going to escape.

"Eric...?"

The struggles had ceased, but he wasn't prepared to let go. She felt so soft beneath him...smelt so good...

__

She?!

"E--Eric?"

It had been a nightmare. He wasn't in Kosovo. He wasn't **there**. It hadn't been real this time. But who did that mean his 'attacker' was? He looked, but all he could see was a blur. He blinked a few times and finally persuaded his eyes to focus on the person he'd trapped. Kimberly.

"Oh shit...oh shit...oh shit..."

That realisation brought with it recognition of something else: His body was definitely reacting to her close proximity.

"Eric...?"

"Oh shit..." As fast as he could, Eric hurled himself across the motel room, needing to get away from Kimberly before he did anything more to embarrass himself, but in his haste, he only succeeded in falling off the bed. "I'm sorry...I...oh shit...I'm sorry...I..." He finally reached the comparative sanctuary of the far side of the room, still painfully aroused and acutely aware of how close he had come to doing something unforgivable. He had never felt so embarrassed in his whole life. "I...I didn't hurt you did I?"

Kimberly slowly sat up on the bed. "No -- I'm fine...I...you were having a nightmare."

Did she realise? Did she know what he'd almost done? A look at her face in the dim light of dawn suggested that yes, she knew. Eric cringed. He waited for the anger that was sure to follow.

"Eric? Are you all right?" Where was the anger? Why wasn't she pissed at him? "I'm sorry -- I should have realised..." Why was she apologising? "I should have known better than to try and wake you like that...particularly after what you told me last night."

"But I...you..." Eric swallowed. "I nearly..."

"But you didn't," Kimberly replied. "And you wouldn't have."

"How do you know that when I don't?"

"Because I trust you."

"Why? **I **don't trust me...I know that I...could have..."

Kimberly gave a reassuring smile. "If you can't trust you, then trust me -- like you trusted me last night. You wouldn't have."

Silence descended, thick and cloying. Eric had no idea what to say, and then saving him came a cry from the other room: "Mommy?"

Alice's call finally broke the tension. Kimberly slid off the bed, careful to keep the borrowed t-shirt from riding up too far, but even so, Eric still found he had quite a view. _No! Hands off. Especially after what you've just done._ But that thought did little to make the renewed interest die away.

"I'll go see to her," Kimberly said. "How 'bout you go have a shower -- maybe get some coffee? We need to figure out what we're going to do."

That proved to be the thought that finally brought his body back under control. _I am **not** letting Cawdron see me so fucked up._ But he didn't trust his voice to make the reply. Instead, he nodded.

Kimberly smiled again and headed through into the other room to deal with Alice. Eric headed for the bathroom. A long, hot shower and some hot caffeine would do wonders for his state of mind.

~*~

"Mommy, where are we?" Alice asked as Kimberly walked into the other motel room.

"We're in a motel," Kimberly replied, wondering how on earth she was going to explain what was going on to Alice. Luckily, something else distracted Alice's attention.

"Mommy, what are you wearing?"

Kimberly glanced down self-consciously. "Um -- it's one of Eric's t-shirts."

"Is he here too?"

"Uh-huh."

"Cool!"

Kimberly wished she could take such a simplistic view of things. When Eric had pinned her to the bed, it had been so tempting to respond. In fact, if he'd kept her pinned much longer, she knew she would have responded -- and based on his reaction when he finally woke up, that would have been the worst thing she could have possibly done.

__

It wouldn't have mattered that I'd have been willing, Kimberly mused as she helped her daughter to get up. _He'd have still seen it as somehow violating me._

"Mommy," Alice began.

"What sweetheart?" Kimberly replied, trying to dismiss her train of thought.

"Are you going to get dressed now?"

Kimberly glanced down at the borrowed t-shirt. "Guess I'd better, huh?"

Alice nodded. "Uh-huh."

At that moment, there was a knock on the connecting door between the two rooms. "Breakfast, anyone?"

Kimberly was surprised by how much more together Eric sounded now as compared to half an hour or so earlier. But when he entered, she could see the effort it was taking. He steadfastly refused to look in her direction and when she looked up at his face, she could see the shadows lurking in his expression.

"I have coffee, orange juice and some toast," he added, firmly concentrating on the tray he was carrying.

"Yay OJ!" Alice exclaimed.

"I'll just go get dressed," Kimberly murmured. "Save me some OJ."

"Sure."

Kimberly noted the brittleness about Eric's response, but made no comment. Instead, she just picked up her discarded clothing and headed into the tiny bathroom.

~*~

Eric was aware of Kimberly going into the bathroom to get changed and felt guilty that he was relieved to know she was out of the room.

"Eric?" He looked down at Alice. "What's wrong?"

__

God, I must be losing it if Alice can tell there's something wrong... Aloud, all he said was, "What makes you think there's something wrong?"

"Cos you look sad," she replied. "Mommy can make you feel better."

Eric set the breakfast tray down on the table. "Is that right?"

"Uh-huh." Alice nodded vigorously. "She makes me feel better when I'm sad."

Eric found himself smiling faintly. "That's because she's your mom. C'mon -- come have some OJ."

"She can make you feel better," Alice asserted, wandering across and accepting the proffered glass of orange juice.

"But she's not my mom," Eric replied.

"I **know** that," Alice replied with the exaggerated patience that implied she thought he was being especially dense.

"So how can she make me feel better?"

"She can be your girlfriend," said Alice. "And then you can be my daddy."

Eric froze, unable to do or say anything. He knew Alice had been hinting at something off and on since he'd started baby sitting for Kimberly, but this was the first time she'd actually said the words. Words he'd dreaded hearing. Words he had no answer to. Words that scared the hell out of him because they meant letting not only Kimberly but Alice get that close to him...and he wasn't sure he could...and she was still talking.

"...and then I can have a family like other kids. And you can kiss mommy good morning...and tuck me in at night..."

__

Stop! Please! Stop!

"...and maybe mommy won't be so sad or have to work so hard or cry anymore..."

__

Stopitstopitstopitstopit...

"Alice!" Kimberly's mortified exclamation was enough to cut through the paralysis. Blindly, Eric grabbed one of the cups of coffee and headed towards the door.

"Eric?"

He realised with a dull jolt that Kimberly had been trying to talk to him. "Sorry...phone calls to make."

Then before anything else could be said, he was through the connecting door and safe.

~*~

Kimberly had heard the start of Alice's conversation with Eric and had paid it no real mind as she'd started to dry her hair after a brief shower, but when she stopped hearing any reply from Eric, she started to listen. And almost wished she hadn't.

__

Alice Megan Cunningham that is about the worst thing you could have possibly said!

She dashed out of the bathroom in time to hear her daughter blithely tell Eric, "And maybe mommy wouldn't be so sad or have to work so hard or cry anymore."

Not only was it embarrassing to have her emotional laundry hung out in front of Eric -- again -- after what he'd said last night, and what had happened this morning, Kimberly suspected Eric wasn't really in a fit state to deal with Alice's hopes and desires. And if she had been in any doubt of that assessment, the haunted, white-faced expression he was wearing bore it out.

"Alice!" she exclaimed.

"What, mommy?" Alice asked innocently.

Eric was already turning to bolt. _Damn._ "Eric! Wait -- please don't..." He picked up a cup of coffee from the tray he'd been carrying earlier. "Eric?"

"Sorry -- phone calls to make."

The slam of the connecting door was somehow final. _Damn, damn, damn, damn._

"M--mommy?" Alice looked scared and tears were beginning to form.

__

Oh, Alice...Kimberly slowly shook her head.

"I didn't mean to."

"I know, hon."

"A--are you cross with me?" Alice asked, between sobs.

Kimberly crouched in front of her daughter. "No, sweetheart -- and nor is Eric."

"Then...?"

__

How can I explain something to Alice when I barely understand it myself? "Sometimes," Kimberly began, "bad things happen to good people...and it takes them time to get over them."

"D--id something bad happen to Eric?" Kimberly nodded, biting her lip and praying Alice wouldn't ask what. "Can you make him feel better?"

"I don't know," Kimberly admitted, inwardly marvelling at the simple faith her daughter had in her. "I hope so."

"So do I." Alice sniffed. "C--can I help?"

Kimberly found herself smiling faintly at her daughter. "Maybe." Alice's unhappy countenance brightened instantly at the prospect of being able to help. "Right now, you can help by staying here and eating breakfast."

"OK." Alice sniffed again. "I didn't mean to be bad."

"You weren't bad," Kimberly replied gently. "But now I need to go and speak to Eric. All right?"

Alice sniffed and nodded. "'Kay."

~*~

As the connecting door swung shut behind him with a slam, Eric's first impulse was to run as far and as fast as he could.

__

I can't deal with this. I can't cope...I can't be what Alice wants...what Kim wants...

But as he got part way to the door out of the room, he stopped; brought up short by something he half saw out of the tail of his eye. Slowly he turned and found himself staring at the reflection in the mirror. Luridly pale features, blood shot eyes, haunted expression... He shivered. That wasn't him. That was a stranger staring back at him.

__

Look what bel Abis has turned you into.

The words of a long forgotten marine Sergeant came back to him. 

__

Yes, you're scared. Yes you have problems. If you run now, you will be running for the rest of your life. There are people relying on you now.

He'd been newly assigned to permanent party -- green as hell and deployed as part of the last contingent of troops in Somalia. First time on active duty, first patrol under hostile fire. He'd been totally and utterly scared.

The Sergeant's words had made a huge impression on eighteen-year-old Eric Myers. Hell, ten years later, they were still making a huge impression on him.

__

I can't run.

If he followed his impulse to run, who was going to make sure that Kimberly and Alice were safe? 

Yes, he had problems. 

Yes, he was scared. 

They were relying on him. 

He had dragged them into this mess -- he had to do his utmost to see them safe. He owed them that much.

__

What about Alice?

She was a kid in a single parent family. She was only doing what any kid did. She wanted a 'normal' life. Eric found himself smiling ruefully. He'd done much the same thing with the first couple of boyfriends his mother had brought home.

__

But am I right?

Having gained a measure of control over the panic, he forced himself to look at the idea of having something more out of life.

__

At some point you've gotta say to yourself that they don't hold that power over you anymore. At some point you've gotta stop holding the world at arm's length.

Kimberly's words from six months earlier danced through his mind. She hadn't known anything about him then -- certainly nothing specific, yet she'd been able to see what he was doing. Come to think of it, so had Wes and Jen. They had seen it -- seen the wall he'd built up to keep the world at bay -- and while they'd not known why it was there, they had tried to overcome it and get to know him anyway.

__

We're partners and we're friends.

You're my friend.

Wes and Jen had both seemed certain about that.

__

When did I end up with friends and not notice?

He wasn't sure, but the more he thought about the concept the more he actually found he'd started relying on their presence. Seemed like his subconscious had already decided it was time to let go.

Eric blinked, seeing his reflection again. The stranger in the mirror didn't look so haunted now. He still looked pale and tired but gone was the look of the cornered wild animal.

__

bel Abis has cost me enough.

He swallowed and looked in the mirror once more. The stranger was gone. He stared at himself for the first time in a long while.

__

I can deal with this. I can cope. I might not fit Alice's fantasies, I might not be the guy Kim dreamed of...but she had her chance to run last night and this morning. If all **that** doesn't scare her...

Eric realised he was smiling.

He felt exhausted -- who knew confronting mental demons could be as tough as slaying real ones? -- but somehow it seemed like a good exhaustion.

There was a slightly timid knock on the connecting door.

"Eric?"

__

I must have scared the hell out of both of them with that little stunt of mine, Eric realised ruefully. "Uh-huh."

The door opened, and he turned to see Kimberly carefully slip into the room. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, giving him a long assessing look. He met her gaze openly and watched as a tiny piece of the worry etched in her expression evaporated.

Without saying a word, she crossed the room to him and pulled him down into a loose hug. "Welcome back," she whispered.

Somewhat to his surprise, his arms found their way around Kimberly's petite frame in a return gesture -- although if it surprised him, it stunned Kimberly, to judge from her expression as she finally stepped back. "Thank you." There was a moment's pause, then he added, "Guess I owe you both an apology."

Kimberly smiled. "Maybe to Alice -- as far as I'm concerned, I'll settle for what I can see here and now."

Eric smiled faintly. "I am sorry, though. You might not want to hear it, but I need to say it. For last night and for this morning."

"If you tell me you have a plan to get us out of here then we'll call it quits. How's that?"

Eric's smile broadened. "I think I can manage that."

"No macho bullshit."

Eric found himself chuckling. "No macho bullshit," he agreed.

"So?" Kimberly asked.

"So I think it's time I called in the cavalry." He smiled ruefully. "If I can remember their phone number."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Chapter 5: Calling in the Cavalry

Disclaimers: See the prologue -- suffice to say, I don't own anyone barring Ben and Cawdron.

Many thanks to Gamine, Irina, Chris and Dagmar who've all seen little bits of this and offered suggestions as I've gone along. Muchos gracias!

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing; glad you guys are enjoying it so far.

~*~

Chapter 5 -- Calling In The Cavalry

Kimberly looked at Eric, a little bemused. "The phone number?" she echoed.

Eric's smile turned sheepish. "Um, yeah."

"OK, you want to run that by me again, this time making sense?"

Eric looked even more sheepish. "Sorry." He pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture that Kimberly was starting to recognise as a sign that he was a little more stressed by what was going on around him than he necessarily looked. "What I mean is, I need to call... Oh hell. Take a seat." Bemused, Kimberly perched on the edge of the unmade bed as Eric started to pace. "My former CO paid me a visit yesterday morning...Colonel John Cawdron...he was the one who dumped all this on me yesterday."

Kimberly nodded slowly. "The one who stirred up the bad memories?"

Eric nodded. "The guy who got stiffed with talking me into not re-enlisting, amongst other things." He paused. "I guess...in lieu of a better idea right now, he's the best person to call. There's just one...slight problem."

"You don't remember the phone number," Kimberly guessed.

Eric looked sheepish again. "Well, that plus I don't know for sure that he's still based outta Camp Pendleton."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "And you didn't think to ask him?"

Eric shrugged a little, looking more and more sheepish by the second. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight," he murmured.

Kimberly relented. "It's OK. Sounds like Camp Pendleton's a good place to start -- and if you really can't remember the number, you could always ask the operator." Eric blinked, looking at her as if she'd grown an extra head. "What? The CIA is in the phone book -- why shouldn't a US Marine base be?"

Eric shook his head. "No -- I know. I just wonder..."

And interrupting the conversation came an electronic bleeping. Kimberly frowned. Eric looked puzzled for a moment, then dived across the room to the TV. Kimberly watched him move and recognition of what the noise was came to her: Eric's cell phone.

She listened to his side of the conversation: "Myers...Sorry Ben -- it's a long story...No I'd rather not say over a cell line...Yes I am that paranoid...Cawdron's there? In that case he can probably tell you **why** I'm that paranoid...No, don't put him on...Because I'm going to call you back on a landline...Because I might be paranoid but they are out to get me...Not my fault. Give me five." Without offering Ben a chance to come back after that, Eric disconnected the call and headed for the hotel phone.

"Problem solved?" Kimberly asked.

"Potentially," Eric answered, rapidly dialling a number. "Give me half an hour to talk to Cawdron and I'll know one way or the other... Sorry about that Gina -- is Ben there?"

Kimberly smiled. "Good luck," she murmured. "I'll leave you to it."

~*~

Eric offered Kimberly a smile as she left the room.

"Eric what the hell is going on?" Ben all but yelled as the call was finally transferred to him.

Eric smiled wryly to himself. "What has Cawdron said to you?"

"Nothing," Ben retorted. "All I know is that your place was razed to the ground last night and no-one had seen you since you went home from work **early**. Man, you've had Gina freaking out."

__

Not just Gina from the sound of things. "Well as you can see, I haven't done something 'stupid'," Eric replied dryly. "Ben, I need to speak to Cawdron."

"And that's another thing!" Ben added. "Who is this guy that he can just waltz in here and make demands?"

"A Colonel in the USMC," Eric answered.

"Can't be," Ben objected.

Eric pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he was going to regret asking this. "Why not?"

"Since when was Barbie a Marine?"

That was it. Eric found himself laughing. He could picture all too clearly who else was with Cawdron.

"Why are you laughing? I'm **serious**!"

"I know you are, Ben, I spent six months sharing an office with her."

"**YOU WERE A MARINE?**" Ben sounded even more incredulous.

"Yes, I was a Marine." Eric rolled his eyes. "Ben, I need to speak to Cawdron. Please." _If I get out of this I am going to have so many questions to answer._ He grimaced at the thought.

"Sure, but..."

"But I owe you one hell of an explanation. I know."

"Damn straight."

The line went quiet as Ben presumably passed the receiver to Cawdron.

"Myers what the hell happened?" Cawdron asked without pre-amble.

__

And here we go... "You tell me," Eric replied. "I took my neighbour and her daughter to the park, headed home to find myself being trailed by some jerk in a Plymouth Prowler, got home to find four fire trucks pulled up where my house was and the Prowler attempting to block me in."

"How did you know the Prowler wasn't Intel's?" Cawdron asked.

It was a question Eric had asked himself several times the night before and going through the incident logically, there was any number of clues that his subconscious had doubtless picked up on, but... "I didn't at the time," Eric admitted quietly.

"Heck of a gut instinct," Cawdron replied. "You were right, of course. The Intel boys picked up the occupants of the Prowler who were, based on what I've been told this morning, too stunned by your escape to even think of trying to evade capture themselves."

Eric had no response to that.

"So where did you take off to?" Cawdron asked.

Eric sighed. "Got on the I1 and headed south. I guess I was half heading for Camp Pendleton."

"But you obviously aren't there," Cawdron stated.

Eric gave a huff of humourless laughter. "If my neighbour hadn't made me stop an hour or so into the journey I might well have been."

"I see. So you're...where?"

"Novotel just east of Malibu."

"And you still have your neighbour and her daughter with you?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." Eric got the impression that Cawdron was frowning. "I need you to sit tight for now. You obviously have a landline number -- I'm presuming you're not on a payphone."

"I'm not," Eric agreed, smiling faintly.

"OK. May I have it? That way, once it's been decided what we need to do, I can call you back to tell you."

"Sure." Eric carefully read out the number printed on the phone. "The room number's 402."

"OK. Thank you -- I will call you back as soon as something has been arranged."

~*~

The second Kimberly returned to her room an anxious looking Alice pounced on her.

"Is Eric OK?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," Kimberly answered, nodding. It wasn't strictly true, she knew, but it was close enough for Alice without having to explain the details.

"Did you make him better?"

Not for the first time, Kimberly found herself smiling at the faith Alice had in her. "Actually I didn't -- he made himself better."

Alice tipped her head on one side and stared at Kimberly. "Can people do that?"

Kimberly nodded. "Sometimes." _When they have the motivation._

"Cool -- I wanna do that."

Kimberly blinked. "Do what?"

"Make myself better. When I grow up, I wanna be like Eric."

Kimberly smiled at that thought. She had a very good idea of what Eric's reaction to it would be. _Alice could certainly have worse role models than Eric,_ she mused. _Although I hope she doesn't grow up to be as insular...or as lonely._

"Mommy, why are we here?" Alice asked, drawing Kimberly from her thoughts. "When can we go home?"

"It's..." But how did you explain this situation to a six-year-old? Alice looked expectant. "It's complicated."

"That's not an answer," Alice objected, pouting.

Kimberly groaned softly. "It's..."

"My fault," said a voice quietly from behind Kimberly.

She jumped; she hadn't heard the connecting door open or Eric enter the room. She wondered how much of the conversation he'd heard, but looking round, his expression was giving nothing away.

"Eric!" Not allowing him to say anything, Alice flung herself at him in a wild bear hug.

Kimberly bit her lip trying not to laugh at the half-stunned expression that briefly featured on Eric's face before being chased away by an expression that could only be described as relief.

"I'm sorry I was bad," Alice mumbled, the words muffled by the fact that she was effectively speaking into Eric's stomach.

"You weren't bad," Eric replied, somehow managing to loosen her grip so that he could crouch down and meet Alice's gaze. "Sometimes...adults can get scared by silly things...it doesn't mean that the silly things are bad things."

Alice blinked a little. "I scared you?"

Kimberly caught the silent appeal for help that Eric gave her but this was going to have to be something he explained. She shrugged apologetically.

Eric finally nodded. "You did."

"I didn't mean to."

He smiled, reassuringly. "I know you didn't -- but what you said... No-one's ever said that to me before."

The look of outrage on Alice's face was such that Kimberly again had to bite her lip in an effort not to laugh.

"Why not?" Alice demanded.

The look of complete helplessness on Eric's face prompted Kimberly to step in. "Alice, sometimes people can't look beyond what they see on the surface of a person."

"That's dumb," Alice proclaimed.

"Yes, it is," Eric agreed, "but that is what adults do."

"Well, I'm **never** going to do it. It's silly." Alice tipped her head on one side and regarded Eric for a few moments. "Do I still scare you?"

"No."

"Does this mean you can be my daddy now?"

Kimberly held her breath, waiting for Eric's reaction, praying that this was one of the demons he'd managed to work through.

"I think that depends on what your mom wants," Eric replied, smiling a little. Kimberly released the held breath. "And I think it also depends on us getting out of this."

"So what **is** going on?" Alice wanted to know. "How can it be your fault?"

__

Round number two, Kimberly mused. _This should be interesting..._

Eric's smile turned wry. "Sometimes, bad things happen to people, even when they've done nothing wrong..."

"Mommy said something bad happened to you," Alice cut in a little tearfully.

Again Kimberly caught the look Eric cast her. She shrugged a little apologetically -- she'd had to say something to Alice. He offered her a smile before turning his attention back to Alice.

He nodded. "It did," he agreed. "And...sometimes, the people who do those bad things aren't satisfied by just doing them once."

Alice gasped. "They hurt you twice?"

Eric shook his head. "No -- but they want to. That's why we're here, because they want to hurt me again."

"You can't let them!" Alice turned to Kimberly. "You can't let them hurt Eric, mommy!"

Eric looked amused by the suggestion. _Not one word, Eric, not one word._ "Honey, it doesn't **quite** work like that," Kimberly said.

"I've got a friend," Eric added, "who is going to help us -- help me -- by getting the bad guys. But until he calls me back, we have to stay here, so that the bad guys don't know where we are."

"Sort of like playing hide and seek?" Alice suggested.

"Exactly like playing hide and seek," Eric agreed.

"Cool."

"And when is your 'friend' calling you back?" Kimberly asked.

Eric sighed as he finally got back to his feet. "He has to talk to various people and they need to decide on the best course of action. Knowing the people involved with that, the call could be...any time."

Kimberly nodded. She'd guessed as much. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

"Can we go to the pool?" Alice asked.

"Do Novotels have pools?" Kimberly wondered.

"This one does," Eric answered.

"Yay!" said Alice. "Can we?"

Kimberly groaned. "Alice -- you don't have anything to swim in and I don't think it's a good idea. Right, Eric?"

"Actually," Eric admitted, "it's not the worst idea I've heard."

"But..."

In a low tone, Eric answered, "The pool's sheltered from the highway and it would add to the impression that we're on vacation not on the run. Plus, Cawdron's going to ring my cell phone twice to let me know he's ready to speak to me so that I'm **not** completely tied to the room."

Kimberly nodded slowly. What Eric was saying made sense, but... "And what do you suggest we swim in?"

Eric offered a smile. "There's a Wal-Mart next door to this place. You could go see what they have for you and Alice."

"What about you?"

Eric shook his head. "I don't swim. It avoids...problems." Kimberly winced. "Besides, I think I have work out gear in my bag. There's other things I can do poolside."

Kimberly lifted her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Eric grinned. "You'll see."

Kimberly blinked. Was it her imagination, or was Eric teasing her?

"Mommy come **on**!" Alice cut in impatiently. "I wanna go swimming."

Kimberly sighed. "OK." She looked at Eric. "If you're sure?"

He nodded. "Better to be doing something than nothing."

Kimberly reflected that was almost certainly true. "OK -- c'mon Alice. Let's go see what Wal-Mart has for us."

~*~

Eric tried not to worry over the length of time Kimberly and Alice were gone from the hotel room but it was a well nigh impossible task. He tried to distract himself by getting changed into the loose, black, cotton pants and well-worn, grey t-shirt that constituted his work out gear, but as he pulled on the garment, he caught a brief whiff of the citrus-and-musk that was Kimberly's perfume and he remembered that she'd borrowed the t-shirt to sleep in the night before. He tried to tell himself that he had nothing to worry about but as minutes ticked by and turned themselves into hours, it was harder and harder to remember that.

When the hotel room door finally opened to readmit Alice and Kimberly it took every shred of self-control for Eric not to dive across the room and crush Kimberly with an Alice-like bear hug. Much as he wanted to do that, giving in to the temptation would telegraph how worried he'd become and that in turn would worry Kimberly. Besides, he was being stupid.

  
"Sorry," Kimberly apologised, setting down her two bags, "but I figured there were a couple of other bits and pieces we could all use."

"Oh?"

Kimberly rummaged in one of the bags. "Like..." She tossed a small packet in his direction.

He caught it and turned it over. A travel shaving kit. Reflexively he felt his jaw line and grimaced. "Guess I need it, huh?"

Kimberly offered a slight smile. "Unless you're planning on growing a disguise."

Eric lifted his eyebrows. "Think that would work?" Kimberly giggled. "Me either. Did you find some swimwear?"

"Uh-huh," said Alice. "They had lots."

Eric frowned at Alice's reply. "Do I get to know what it looks like?" But a look at Alice's stern expression told him the answer to that question. "I see. Let me go shave, you guys can get changed and then we can go."

"I have a better idea," said Kimberly. "You shave and we'll meet you down there."

Eric looked at Kimberly for a moment. She favoured him with a smile. _I am so screwed._

~*~

Kimberly looked at herself in the mirror of the tiny changing area beside the pool. The black, halter-neck swimsuit did look good on her and the deep red trim highlighted her trim figure but... Was this a good idea?

Was this a step too far?

It had seemed like a good idea when she'd seen the suit in Wal-Mart. It was sexy, it would look good on her -- it would give Eric a treat.

But was this a step too far?

__

Too late for second thoughts.

"Mommy, come **on**!" Alice ordered.

__

Definitely too late for second thoughts. "OK -- I'm coming."

Kimberly followed her daughter out of the changing area and onto the poolside terrace. No sign of Eric yet. 

"Alice, honey -- come here a second. Let me put some sun block on you." Alice pouted but consented to stand still while Kimberly applied the waterproof sun block to her shoulders, back and legs. "OK."

"Yay!"

Kimberly watched as Alice gleefully jumped into the pool. She had no qualms about her being in the water -- they had lived in a beachfront property in Miami and Alice had learned to swim almost before she could walk -- particularly given Alice wouldn't be swimming alone. With practiced speed, she applied sun block to her own shoulders before entering the pool herself.

The water felt good as Kimberly slowly swam the pool's length. After the events of the previous evening and this morning, it was good to relax and she realised that Eric really did have a point about this not being the worst idea. She turned and swam back towards the shallow end where Alice was splashing around. For a few minutes, Kimberly could even imagine this was a holiday. It was sunny, it was warm, Alice was happy...

As she turned to sit on the wide, roman-style steps that led into the shallow end of the pool, she saw Eric finally appear on the poolside terrace. For a fraction of a second, their eyes met. She could see him taking in the swimsuit and how it looked on her and to her relief, while he did blush a little, his main reaction was a slight curve of the lips. She couldn't call it a smile, precisely, but she got the impression he liked what he saw.

__

And I certainly have no room to complain, she decided. The loose fitting pants and t-shirt shouldn't have looked sexy, but they did. Not for the first time, she wondered what it was he was planning on doing -- particularly as he was carrying a towel.

Finding herself strangely unable to look away, Kimberly watched him walk the length of the poolside until he was on the sun-soaked portion of the terrace near to the changing area. He claimed a pool lounger briefly, to remove his sneakers, before setting down the towel -- and presumably the cell phone too, although Kimberly couldn't see that device at this distance -- and moving to stand, bare-foot, roughly in the middle of the free space.

"Mommy!" Alice's excited whoop dragged Kimberly's attention away from Eric. "Look at me!"

Almost reluctantly, Kimberly looked to see Alice had taught herself how to turn a somersault in the water. She watched for a few moments, but found her attention gradually being drawn back to Eric who was now performing a series of basic warm-up stretches. The stretches gradually evolved into something that Kimberly half recognised. It was a kata of some description but what martial arts knowledge she might have had once upon a time had atrophied considerably and she wasn't sure what style it was -- or even which one of her friends had shown it to her, and she was certain one of the ex-rangers had.

"Mommy?" Alice's quiet query again snagged her attention. Turning back to look, she realised Alice was now standing in front of her, regarding her strangely. "What's Eric doing?" she asked.

Kimberly smiled. "It's called a kata."

"What's one of those?"

"It's a sort of practice routine for martial arts."

"Cool."

Alice splashed away. Kimberly smiled. Eric was good. Being a ranger didn't automatically mean you were a master martial artist, but it certainly helped if you were one. Her knowledge might have deteriorated, but she still remembered the things that Tommy, Jason, Trini, Rocky, Aisha and Adam had taught her to look out for in a martial artist. Balance, poise, control... All things she could see in every movement Eric made. No, Eric wasn't just good -- he was very good.

The first kata gave way to a second, more physical, kata without any discernible break. The expression on his face was one of pure concentration and Kimberly got the feeling that he had probably ceased to notice her or Alice. Zoning was what Tommy had called it -- the point where your body moved without conscious thought -- and there was definitely something sexy about it.

For possibly the first time, Kimberly could see the predator that -- on one level -- she knew Eric had to be. Each kick and punch was filled with a very obvious, deadly grace. Every movement was sharp, precise, defined and unquestionably lethal. She ought to have felt intimidated by it, but she knew -- almost instinctively -- that he would never turn those skills on her or on Alice.

The second kata flowed smoothly into a third, even more physical, routine. Kimberly found herself mesmerised by the movements. The _slap-slap_ of Eric's bare feet hitting the concrete was hypnotic. The sound of his breathing, the grunts of exertion, filled her ears. The whole combination was completely intoxicating and utterly breathtaking.

__

He's putting on a show, Kimberly realised. _For me..._ She swallowed. It had been a very, very long time since anyone had done that for her. Knowing that Eric was making the effort for her -- and just for her -- was almost as much of an aphrodisiac as the katas themselves.

Then the moment shattered irrevocably as water splashed all over her. The sound of Alice's giggle completed what the water had started. Kimberly's attention snapped back to her daughter to see Alice grinning mischievously.

"Alice!" Kimberly objected.

"Catch me if you can!" Alice retorted, hastily taking off for the far end of the pool.

"Oooh, Alice Megan Cunningham..." Kimberly set off after her laughing daughter.

"Quick Alice -- your mom's gaining on you." Eric's observation took Kimberly's attention from her pursuit.

Looking over her shoulder, Kimberly noted that Eric's kata had finished and he was now standing on the pool's edge, not too far away, grinning. _Encourage her, will you?_ It was not much of an effort for her to change direction. Kimberly smiled. Eric looked briefly puzzled.

"No...Kim..."

Too late he started to back away. Using the edge of the pool for leverage, Kimberly surged upwards, half out of the pool, grabbed an outstretched, protesting hand and pulled. Eric had a chance to give a solitary yelp of distress as he went head first into the pool with a loud and inelegant splash.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	7. Chapter 6: Tag

Disclaimer: See the prologue for the specifics, if you recognise it, it's not mine; everything else is. Please only borrow after asking.

Many thanks to Gamine for tirelessly pulling out the nits and insisting I end this chapter properly. Many thanks also to Irina for also nit spotting and for being my guinea pig. Also thanks to Claire and Ekat who've both very graciously put up with me.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing; glad folks are enjoying it so far. This, ladies and gentlemen, would be the halfway point...

~*~

Chapter 6 -- Tag

"Alice asleep?" Eric asked, as Kimberly entered his room, closing the connecting door behind her.

Kimberly nodded. "Out like a light," she agreed. "Thank you."

Eric blinked. "Huh?"

Kimberly grinned faintly. "You're good with her."

Eric hadn't given that matter any thought. "I guess." He smiled a little. "She's fun to be around."

Kimberly smiled in return. "Today's been good." She sat down in one of the armchairs, opposite from his position on the bed. "Apart from when you're encouraging her to splash me."

Eric grinned. "I still can't believe you pulled me into the pool."

"Aw -- c'mon. You deserved it," Kimberly shot back, smiling. "Besides, you should have seen your face when you surfaced."

Eric found himself laughing. "I can imagine." His laughter died away and he slowly shook his head. "I don't think I've had as much fun as today in a long while. Trust me to be perverse like that."

"Oh?"

Eric sighed. "The whole reason we're here is because I've got some crazy bastard after me because I'm 'the one that got away', and I manage to have more fun today than I've had..." He was tempted to offer the truth -- that this was probably the first time he'd ever enjoyed himself this much for a whole day -- but he was painfully aware of how pathetic that would sound. "In a long while," he settled for.

Kimberly looked thoughtful.

"I...um...liked the swimsuit," Eric said, a little self-conscious but wanting to change the subject away from himself.

Kimberly smiled. "Hoped you would."

"It...um...looked good." _Man, are you ever out of practice at small talk._ "The colours suited you."

Kimberly's smile widened. "I hoped you'd like them."

"My colours, huh?"

"Yep." Eric wanted to say something profound -- or at least romantic -- about the gesture but he found himself tongue-tied and Kimberly continued, "Sort of the reverse of olden times, I know."

"Olden times?" Eric echoed.

Kimberly looked amused. "I thought you were a history student."

"Only for six weeks," Eric replied, smiling ruefully, "and that was modern history."

Kimberly grinned. "I see."

"Olden times?" said Eric, hoping she'd explain the reference.

"Medieval times," Kimberly answered. "A lady would show her support for her knight by offering him her colours to wear...but I figure you'd look silly in pink so I turned it around a bit."

Eric knew he was blushing. Was Kimberly saying what he thought she was? All he could manage was a quiet, "Oh," in response.

"Why does that bother you, Eric?" Kimberly asked gently.

__

Good question. "I don't know," he admitted. He looked up and met Kimberly's gaze. "Guess I still keep expecting to wake up."

Kimberly's eyebrows lifted. "Wake up?" she echoed.

"When I was a kid...well...freshman in High School...I used to have this dream. It started after I'd taken part in a karate tournament -- one of the other guys taking part in it had gone there with his group of friends. I had to fight him in the semi-final and it was one of those matches that..." Eric shrugged. "It was a good match to win, you know?" Kimberly nodded. "And I won it...but seeing him with his friends -- seeing them commiserate with him... Seeing his girlfriend, at least I figure she was his girlfriend -- from the way she kissed him, I'd sure hate to think she was his sister!" Kimberly grinned. "Anyway...I might have won the match but seeing him with his friends...made me realise just what I didn't have in my life."

"What do you mean?"

Eric sighed and looked down at his hands. "Well...I got home from that tournament to find my..." he hesitated. "To find my mother passed out, drunk. I couldn't even tell her I'd come second in the state-wide tournament. That night, after I'd put her to bed, I dreamed of having someone to be there for me, like the guy I'd beaten in the semi-final."

"I see." Kimberly's voice was quiet.

Eric suddenly went cold. He'd gone too far...assumed too much. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."

"Eric, look at me." Eric couldn't look up. Didn't dare look up. "Eric." There was no mistaking that tone. It was a command. But he couldn't risk looking up. Looking up would tell him once and for all that he'd messed up royally. Again. "Eric!"

Before he could register that Kimberly was suddenly right in front of him, he felt her fingers on his chin, forcing him to look up and meet her gaze.

"What are you sorry for?" Kimberly asked.

"I..."

"You're allowed to have hopes and dreams."

"Am I?" Eric asked softly. "I thought I'd lost that right."

Kimberly smiled in reassurance. "You didn't lose that right."

"And if that dream involves you -- and Alice?"

Kimberly's smile widened at that admission. There might have been a little relief in her expression too, but Eric wasn't sure. "Then that's allowed too."

__

Life -- and love -- is about risk. Take a risk.

Not giving himself the chance to think about what he was doing, Eric gently pulled Kimberly closer to him and kissed her. Every single thing he wanted to say but didn't know the words for, every single feeling and desire, every last piece of hope went into the kiss. If she rejected this...

But that thought went unfinished and forgotten as he felt her hands creep around his back, locking them together in an embrace, while she returned the kiss whole-heartedly. It all felt inescapably right. It felt like coming home. It felt like finding a part of himself that he hadn't realised he'd lost. For the first time in his life, Eric felt complete.

The need to breathe overcame them and the kiss came to an end, but neither of them was over inclined to move more than was strictly necessary. Eric half suspected he was clinging to Kimberly in much the same way a drowning man clings to a rope but she didn't seem to be protesting.

He opened his mouth to say something but before he could say a word, his cell phone gave two rings before falling silent again. He closed his eyes and started to laugh.

"God loves a good joke," he murmured.

"Cawdron?" Kimberly asked, faint amusement lacing her tone.

Eric opened his eyes again to see her smiling, even as the room phone started to ring. "Let's hope so," he replied.

Reluctantly, he let go of her and started to move towards the phone.

"Want me to give you some privacy?" Kimberly asked.

He reached for the receiver, shaking his head. "No -- stay. Please?" Kimberly nodded and took a seat on the bed beside him. Eric picked up the receiver. "Myers."

"Mr Myers -- I have a call from a John Cawdron," the hotel night clerk began. "Do you want to accept it?"

"Please."

"OK."

There were a few clicks on the line, then Cawdron said, "Myers?"

"Yes, sir."

"You do **know** I'm not your CO any more?" Cawdron queried.

Eric smiled faintly. "Hard not to know that."

"Yet you still call me sir."

"Habit."

Cawdron gave a bark of laughter. "I suppose it is."

Kimberly looked confused. Eric mouthed _"Long story."_

Kimberly grinned. _"I see," _she mouthed back.

"I'll cut to the chase," Cawdron continued, amusement suddenly gone from his tone. "We've come up with a plan of action. The Intel guys are stepping up their efforts at finding out where bel Abis is basing himself. That," Cawdron added, "I suppose, was something of a no-brainer."

"Pretty much," Eric agreed.

"Meantime, we're going to pick you up and take you -- and your neighbours -- to a safe house. You'll be under twenty-four hour security until bel Abis is under lock and key."

Eric nodded to himself -- that was more or less the sort of thing he was expecting. "What's going to happen?"

"You remember Danielle Hines and Ian Foster?" Cawdron replied.

It took a moment or two for Eric to connect the names to faces. When he did it dawned on him that although he had known Foster almost the entire time the other man had been a Marine and although he'd shared an office with Hines for six months, he hadn't known either of their first names. Vaguely, Eric wondered what that said about him.

"Myers?"

"Sorry -- yes, I do."

"Good. They'll be with you at oh-nine-hundred tomorrow morning and they will get you to the safe house."

Eric nodded again. "Understood."

"You don't need to worry about your vehicle -- we'll take care of that."

"Understood. Any other instructions?"

Cawdron gave another huff of laughter, this one lacking the genuine amusement of the first one. "No -- only get some sleep."

Eric smiled faintly. "Sir."

"I'll see you sometime tomorrow afternoon," Cawdron stated.

"Sir."

Cawdron chuckled and hung up.

"Well?" Kimberly asked as Eric put the receiver down.

He sighed. "Not sure if it's 'well' or not -- but it's a plan." Kimberly lifted her eyebrows in silent question. In answer, Eric relayed Cawdron's instructions. "I'm afraid it means your life's been put on hold."

Kimberly nodded. "Probably means I've lost my job, too. They were understanding about the time off I had to have over Dirk -- but there's only so long they can hold a job for someone."

"I'm sorry."

Kimberly smiled faintly and shrugged. "There are other jobs -- and to be honest, I would rather be here, with you and knowing what was going on, than not." She paused. "Besides which, I didn't get a great look at the fire yesterday, but I kinda get the feeling they torched my place along with yours. Right?"

"Afraid so."

"I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we'd been home."

"I'm..."

"If you apologise I might be forced to do something you'd regret," Kimberly warned, waggling her finger at him.

Eric grinned faintly. "I was going to say I'm sure that bel Abis' men were under strict instructions to make it a warning."

"You're a rotten liar," Kimberly observed.

Eric offered an apologetic shrug. "As it goes, I am fairly sure about that." He smiled wryly. "Something tells me bel Abis wants the 'pleasure' of my death to himself."

Kimberly shuddered. "I can't believe you just accept that someone wants you dead."

"Not really like I have a hell of a lot of choice in the matter." He was suddenly aware of Kimberly dissecting him with a glare. "What did I do now?"

"You're not thinking this is something you deserve?"

Eric smiled wryly. "No." He sighed. "My self-esteem might be screwed up but it's not that bad." Kimberly looked a little sceptical. "Kim, I can honestly say I have never thought of Kosovo or the shit that's followed it as being something I deserved. Nobody 'deserves' any of that."

"Not even bel Abis?"

"OK, that's stretching a point," Eric admitted. "But you know what I mean."

Kimberly nodded and silence fell between them.

"We...probably ought to get some sleep," Eric finally murmured.

"Yeah."

Neither one of them moved.

"Um..." Eric hesitated. "You don't have to go."

"Are you suggesting I sleep with you tonight?" Kimberly asked, quietly.

"If you wanted to," Eric replied. Kimberly's eyes widened, and Eric realised what his suggestion had sounded like. "I don't mean like that -- I mean...yes I do want to sleep with you in that sense, but not tonight... I'm not trying to proposition you." Eric was uncomfortably aware that what he'd just said wasn't the best way to impress Kimberly. "Can I try that again?"

Kimberly offered him a faint smile. "Go for it."

"I..." Eric rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little sheepish. "I've only had one proper sleep without sleeping pills, music or nightmares since I came back from Kosovo...and that was the three hours I caught in the SUV last night."

Kimberly blinked. "What do you mean?"

Eric looked down. "If I don't take sleeping pills or somehow else sedate myself I have nightmares." He forced himself to look up and meet Kimberly's gaze. If this relationship was to have any future he needed to be honest about this. "Bad nightmares."

Kimberly nodded slowly. She didn't look surprised by that revelation -- but given what had happened first thing that morning, Eric knew it wasn't really much of a revelation. Somewhat to his surprise, she took one of his hands in her own and gently squeezed. Somehow that one gesture seemed to say more than any words possibly could and he knew he could finish his explanations.

"For...whatever reason, last night in the SUV, I got the best three hours' sleep I've had since I came back from Kosovo...and by all rights, given what happened yesterday evening, that shouldn't have been the case."

"You think it was because of me?" Kimberly asked quietly, her thumb gently stroking the back of his hand.

Eric shrugged a little sheepishly. "I know how dumb it sounds but...it's the only thing that makes sense."

"It's not dumb," Kimberly answered. "Dumb would be trying to pretend you didn't have nightmares period." She offered him a smile. "You do know that if I stay with you tonight and Alice realises I did..."

Eric cut her off with a small smile and a nod. "I know what Alice will think...and if you're OK with it, I don't mind. I meant what I said this morning. It's up to you."

"Staying sounds good," Kimberly murmured. She leaned forward and lightly kissed him. "I'd like to give 'us' a shot."

~*~

Kimberly studied Eric's sleeping form, absently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It was just past seven o'clock and she knew she was going to have to wake him soon but bearing in mind what he'd told her the previous evening, she was loath to do it just yet. He was sleeping so peacefully -- it was such a contrast to the state she'd found him in the previous morning.

If Kimberly had been in any doubt as to whether he truly did trust her, this sight would have removed them.

Asleep, like this, the shadows that perpetually lurked in Eric's expression were gone. Kimberly quietly promised herself that if she could, she would banish them for good. _I don't know your life story yet, but I get the feeling you've never had many breaks._ She smiled, reaching out to gently touch his shoulder to wake him up. _I think you're about due some._ "Eric -- it's quarter past seven."

Kimberly watched as Eric literally went from asleep to awake in a heartbeat. For a brief second he looked ready to attack, then he relaxed and offered her a smile. "Good morning," he murmured.

Kimberly grinned. "I think it might be," she replied as he sat up.

"Did you sleep all right?"

Kimberly chuckled. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Eric smiled a little. "I haven't slept a whole night through without the aid of a sleeping pill or six in three years...until last night. Thank you."

"I slept fine," Kimberly replied. She started to lean forwards, intending to give him a good morning kiss when there was a purposeful thump from the other room, closely followed by,

"Mommy?"

Eric started to laugh softly. "It's like being a teenager and having your parents continually walking in."

"More than you know," Kimberly agreed. Louder, she said, "What is it, honey?"

The connecting door between the two rooms pushed open and Alice entered. "What are you doing in here, mommy?" she asked.

"Um..."

Alice tipped her head on one side and studied Kimberly for a moment. "Does this mean Eric's going to be my daddy now?"

Kimberly glanced at Eric, hoping this was what he'd been expecting from Alice. He offered her a smile as if to say 'want me to answer?'. She nodded, suddenly nervous.

"It might do," Eric replied.

Alice's answering smile was bright enough that it almost lit up the room. "Yay!"

"Someone approves," Eric murmured softly.

"It's not definite," Kimberly felt duty bound to put in, but her comment took none of the wind out of Alice's sails. _I hope this works out._ She felt Eric gently and unobtrusively squeeze her hand. Through the contact she could feel his nervousness too. _God, what a pair we make._ She sighed. _I'm tired of being nervous._

"Are we going swimming again today?" Alice asked, changing the subject.

"Actually," Eric answered, "we're going to be going somewhere else."

"Home?" said Alice hopefully.

"Afraid not, honey," said Kimberly. Alice pouted. "But soon." She glanced at Eric. "Right?"

"Definitely," Eric agreed. "Tell you what, how about we all get dressed and I can get us some breakfast. My friends will be here soon."

"Will I like your friends?" Alice asked. "What are their names?"

"Ian and B...Danielle," Eric answered. Kimberly wondered what he'd been about to say.

"They sound nice," said Alice dubiously. "Are they?"

"Yes."

"Good. C'mon mommy -- I want to get dressed."

"Borg ancestry," Eric murmured softly.

Kimberly shook her head. "Go on through, Alice -- I'll be with you in a moment."

"OK." Alice departed.

"You think we can make this work?" Kimberly asked softly.

For answer, Eric squeezed her hand again and kissed her on the cheek -- a safe, chaste action, given Alice was stumping around in the other room. "We can make this work," he promised. "It has to." 

He opened his mouth to say more, but a plaintive, "Mommy!" cut him off.

Kimberly groaned. "How many times can we get interrupted?"

"Don't ask that," Eric begged. "You don't want to find that out."

"No, probably not." Kimberly sighed and reluctantly climbed off the bed just as there was a knock on the hotel room door.

There was a long, frozen moment. Kimberly looked at Eric. He had switched from relaxed to on guard in an instant and she could see the very real fear in the suddenly tense lines of his body. She opened her mouth to say something. He shook his head and jerked his thumb in the direction of the other room.

__

"Alice," he mouthed and put a finger to his lips.

Kimberly started to nod when there was a second knock on the door, this time followed by a male voice calling softly, "Sarge?"

Kimberly stared as Eric suddenly seemed to fold in on himself and his shoulders started to shake as though he was crying or...laughing? He looked up. Definitely laughter -- although not particularly humorous, more hysterical, Kimberly decided.

"Panic over," he said softly. "But you might want to keep Alice in there for a few moments and cover her ears -- what I'm about to do is not something you want her to see or hear."

Kimberly nodded. "OK." The mild hysteria was leaving Eric's expression now and she got the feeling she did not want to be present when he did whatever it was he planned on doing to whoever the visitor was. "Call me when it's safe to come back."

Eric smiled faintly. "Will do."

With that, Kimberly withdrew.

~*~

As the connecting door closed behind Kimberly, Eric rolled off the bed, collecting his t-shirt and pulling it on before he padded softly over to the main room door and peered through the peep-hole just to be certain it was who he thought it was. Sure enough, there were Foster and Hines -- although not in uniform.

__

I'm going to kill them. Slowly. And painfully.

"Perhaps he's not awake yet," Hines was observing softly as Eric opened the door.

"He **is** awake," Eric retorted shortly, "and he wants to know what the fucking hell the pair of you are playing at." He opened the door a little wider to allow the pair entry. "Get in here."

"I told you," muttered Hines to Foster as they entered the room.

Eric closed the door behind them. "I'm waiting to hear this explanation. Never mind that I was told you wouldn't be here for another hour and a half."

"Sorry Sarge," Foster answered. "It's not Barbie's fault. It's mine."

Eric's hands went to his hips. "I'm still waiting."

"I'm sorry," Foster repeated. "I just figured -- given the situation -- you'd rather be picked up as quickly as we could manage."

"And did it occur to you that I might have been told what time to expect you precisely because of that 'situation'?" Eric retorted.

"I don't get what the big deal is, here," Foster said.

"Let me break it down for you," Eric answered. "There is a guy out there who wants me dead. Yes?" Foster nodded slowly. "He is a sick, sadistic, twisted, fucked up son of a bitch -- something I know first hand. Yes?" Foster nodded. "I am here," and Eric gestured to the hotel room, "because that sick, sadistic, twisted, fucked up son of a bitch torched my house two nights ago. Yes?" Foster nodded. "Put yourself into my shoes now."

"Oh shit."

Eric nodded. "Oh shit would cover it." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to recover what was left of his self-possession. "If you've finished scaring the shit out of me...?" Hines and Foster both nodded. "Thank you."

The pair stared at him.

"Pardon?" said Hines, bemused.

"For being here at all."

Foster looked a little sheepish. "I let you down after Kosovo...and since. Doing this duty's not going to exactly make up for it -- but it's something I can do."

"Ditto," said Hines. "I was not exactly the easiest person in the world to get along with and, apart from that once, you didn't lose your temper with me...and I know...I guess...that the six months we worked together weren't exactly the greatest of times for you."

Eric tried hard not to stare slack jawed at the pair of them, but it was a struggle. "Thank you," he finally managed. Then something dawned on him. "You actually **answer** to Barbie?"

Hines grinned. "Not like I have a whole lotta choice in the matter, but yes."

Eric slowly shook his head.

"So where are you hiding your neighbour, Sarge?" Foster asked, clearly still as irrepressible as he'd ever been.

"I'm not 'hiding' her," Eric retorted. "She's in her room." So saying, he crossed to the connecting door between the two rooms and opened it. Kimberly was finishing braiding her hair. "Do you want to come in and meet them?"

"You've finished shredding them?" Kimberly replied.

Eric smiled faintly. "Yeah."

"OK. Coming Alice?"

"'Kay." For possibly the first time, Eric saw Alice look nervous.

"It'll be OK," he promised, holding out his hand to her.

She timidly took his hand and he led her and Kimberly into the other room.

"This is getting more and more like the last barn before bandit country by the second," Foster murmured as his eyes fell on Alice.

__

Foster, that was **not** a comparison I wanted you to draw, Eric groused silently. "Fos, shut up."

"What?" Kimberly asked softly.

"Long story," Eric answered. "I'll tell you later." Louder, he said, "Kim, Alice, this is Ian Foster and B...Danielle Hines. Fos, Hines, this is Kimberly and Alice Cunningham."

"Pleasure to meet you both," said Foster, offering Kimberly a dazzling smile. "Especially such a beautiful lady as yourself."

Without saying a word, Eric draped his free arm around Kimberly's waist in a move that was deceptively casual and belied by the belligerent glare he pinned Foster with. 

Hines elbowed Foster in the ribs. "Behave," she hissed.

"You've got some interesting friends," Kimberly observed softly.

"You don't know the half of it," Eric agreed. To Foster he said, "Keep that up and Hines' elbow won't be the only thing you've got bruises from." He glared at the taller man, daring him to try anything else.

Eric watched as Foster looked from him to Kimberly and back and blanched. "I'll be good."

"First time for everything," Hines murmured.

"So," said Kimberly. "What happens now?"

"Good question." Eric looked to Hines, seeing as Foster actually did seem deflated for once. "Hines?"

"As soon as you three are ready, we'll hit the road and get to the safe house," she answered. "The sooner you're settled there the better."

~*~

It took half an hour for everything to be arranged -- which, Eric reflected, was an amazingly short span of time, particularly given that in that time, he had managed to grab a quick shower and he, Kimberly and Alice had managed to at least grab a rudimentary breakfast.

"Got everything?" Foster asked, having recovered somewhat.

"We do," said Kimberly quietly.

Eric took a glance around his hotel room. "Yep," he agreed.

"OK -- rules of the road," said Foster, turning serious. "In an ideal world, we'd be doing this under cover of darkness but... Eric -- since it's you that's the..." Foster glanced at Alice. "The focus of this, you're gonna have to keep out of sight until we reach the safe house, just to be on the safe side. We have an SUV, so that isn't going to be too much of a problem but Kim, Alice, you guys can't look at him...talk to him...he's not there, if you see what I mean?"

"Hide and seek, remember?" Eric said to Alice when she looked puzzled.

"OK." Alice nodded.

"It's not a long journey," Foster continued. "A couple of hours at the most. What we're gonna do is the four of us -- that's me, Hines, Kim and Alice, are gonna go down to the lobby, we'll do the check out sh...stuff -- if the desk clerk asks about where you are, you've already gone but I'm betting the clerk won't ask. You meanwhile, need to head down the fire escape stairs. They're internal, so there's no problems there, and they're also not overlooked -- they're basically for the housekeeping staff." 

Eric nodded. 

"At the bottom of them, there's a staff door out of the building which will be unlocked. That'll let you out to the side of the building and right onto the exit road from this complex -- unfortunately, that exit is overlooked from the highway, so you're gonna have wait until you hear the SUV pull up. As soon as it does..."

"Get my butt into the back and get my head down," Eric finished.

Foster nodded. "That's about the size of it, yes."

Eric nodded. It was a nice, simple plan. "Gotcha."

"Everyone ready?" Foster asked.

Kimberly hugged him tightly. "No macho bullshit," she murmured.

"No macho bullshit," he promised.

"Be careful," Alice begged as Kimberly released him.

"I will be," he promised.

"Let's get this show on the road," said Foster. "Fifteen minutes and this will be all over."

Eric watched Foster and Hines lead Kimberly and Alice from the room. He waited a couple of minutes, then made his way to the fire escape Foster had mentioned. The stairwell was empty -- although given it was not yet nine o'clock that wasn't so surprising. Quietly, he descended the five flights of concrete stairs until he reached the bottom -- and there was the door.

Now all he had to do was wait.

He hated waiting.

Foster's crack about the last barn before bandit country came back to him. _Please let that not be an omen._ At least in that barn, in that firefight, the situation had been his to control. This...this was beyond his control. He was relying on others -- and while he trusted Foster and Hines to do their jobs he couldn't help but feel antsy.

A car drove passed.

Minutes ticked by.

Another car passed.

More time crawled by.

Finally the sounds of something pulling up and stopping.

Caution led Eric to only open the door a fraction. Navy blue SUV. That was Alice and Kimberly on the back seat. This was it. Moving swiftly, he opened the door and started to step through it, noting that Foster was getting out of the passenger side, making as if there was a problem with the front tyre, covering the real reason for stopping.

One step.

Eric got the itchy feeling that someone was watching him.

Two steps.

He tried to quicken his pace.

Three steps.

__

:::Phe-tooo:::

Eric heard the sound but it was only as pain blossomed in his right thigh that his conscious mind caught up to the fact that someone had fired a silenced gun. At him.

Time slowed to an absolute crawl.

His leg gave out under him and he went down. Foster was already moving towards him. But so were several other people. And they were still shooting.

"Foster get out of here!" Eric yelled.

Foster hesitated.

"**GET OUT OF HERE!**"

Eric thought he could hear Hines' voice raised but he wasn't sure. Either way, Foster made a decision and dived back into the SUV. The squeal of tyres as Hines put it into gear and drove away was not loud enough to mask Kimberly's scream:

"**YOU CAN'T LEAVE HIM THERE!**"

__

I'm sorry Kim...

One of the other people had reached him now.

"Night-night," the man hissed.

Eric felt the boot connect with his head and then everything went black.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Chapter 7: Into The Nightmare's Grip

Disclaimer: Gah, I knew this was going to happen... Rocky doesn't belong to me. For the rest check the prologue disclaimers.

With thanks to Chris, Gamine and Irina for reading, commenting, poking, prodding and generally aiding the writing of this chapter. Much obliged.

Please offer feedback -- it might help make this cold go away...

~*~

Chapter 7 -- In The Nightmare's Grip

"We have to go back!" Kimberly yelled as Hines pulled onto the freeway.

"Not an option," Hines shot back.

"What do you mean it's not an option?" Kimberly screamed. "We have to..."

"Mommy, I'm scared...what's happened to Eric?" Alice asked softly, cutting Kimberly's rant off.

"That," said Hines pointedly, "is why it's not an option. Fos -- you OK?"

That was when Kimberly realised that Foster was gripping his shoulder and muttering low-level curses. "Just winged me," he gritted. "It's not serious."

"Damn." Hines shook her head. "How has this gone to hell so far and so fast?"

"Mommy?"

Alice's frightened query finished what the realisation that Foster had been shot had started. Kimberly found her anger mutating into a determination that she was going to do everything in her power to help Eric.

"It's gonna be OK," Kimberly promised, drawing Alice into her lap and hugging her tightly.

"I want Eric to be OK," Alice sniffed.

Kimberly rubbed Alice's back; trying to soothe her and trying to draw some measure of comfort herself. "I'm gonna make sure he is. I promise."

"Kim," said Hines, "is there somewhere we can go other than this safe house?"

"What do you mean?"

"Right now I don't trust the setup," Hines replied. "There are only two ways those goons knew where to look. Either they've somehow traced Eric via an electronic trail -- which is possible, but as far as we're aware bel Abis doesn't have the means to do that."

"Or...?"

Hines sighed. "Or someone told them where and when to be."

Kimberly stared. "What do you mean?"

"Barbie means that there's someone in this operation who's playing both sides," Foster put in. "I know it's not me, it's not Barbie and it's not Cawdron..."

"How?"

Foster slowly turned to face Kimberly. She could see the visible signs of shock and pain setting in and she almost wished she hadn't asked -- he clearly wasn't up to answering her. "The Colonel was the one who had to tell Sarge his career as a Marine was over. That was his job -- and he did it, but he didn't like it. Sarge was set up to be screwed over -- I think Cawdron thought that at the time. I **know** he thinks that now." Foster shifted back until he was facing forwards again. "If he was set up back then, this is just an extension of that."

Kimberly shivered. 

"So do you have anywhere else we can go?" Hines asked.

"Rocky."

"Beg pardon?"

"Sorry." Kimberly grimaced -- she hadn't intended to say Rocky's name out loud. "I have friends in Angel Grove," she said.

"Angel Grove it is."

"But if you think you're going to leave me out of this from here on..."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Hines answered. "But right now, we need somewhere we can go that no-one knows about. We need to regroup, and we need to figure out what our next move is going to be. And it needs to be somewhere where Fos isn't going to attract questions."

"Rocky won't ask."

"Sounds like a plan."

Kimberly sat back into her seat, hugging Alice close. Alice's sobs had quietened and Kimberly could feel her daughter relaxing into sleep, having cried herself out. Kimberly wished she could find peace that easily, but that peace eluded her. She found herself absently stroking Alice's head while staring blindly out of the window with one thought echoing over and again: _Please be all right, Eric._

~*~

Pain.

Cold.

Fear. 

It was the cold, lead ball of fear that finally dragged Eric towards consciousness and the total silence around him only added to it. 

"How nice of you to join me once more, Sergeant Myers...oh, but wait -- you're **not** Sergeant Myers any more." 

There was mocking laughter in the voice that so shattered the silence. Eric knew he ought to have been relieved by that -- by the fact that the voice gave him something to focus on, preventing him from sinking into hysteria -- but the pounding headache that was now making itself known made focusing difficult.

"I would apologise for your unseemly abduction but...we both know I would be lying."

"Son of a bitch," Eric muttered.

"Name calling -- how unoriginal. Somehow I thought more of you than that. You slipped through my grip twice -- I was not going to take any more chances."

Eric forced his eyes to finally open but all he saw was darkness. Pitch black, oppressive, total darkness. A scream rose in his throat. _I will **not** scream._ But there was nothing that could prevent him from making a soft sound of distress.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, trying to hold his voice steady.

Amused laughter filling whatever void this was. "It is really quite simple, Mr Myers." There was a pause. "I want you."

"Why?"

More laughter. "Must I have a reason? Could I not simply desire your stunning wit and charm?"

"Go to hell you fucking asshole." 

The headache was subsiding -- or maybe he was getting used to it, he wasn't sure which -- and other details of his situation made themselves known. He'd been chained naked and upright, hanging from his wrists; a familiar burn was beginning to manifest itself in his shoulders as a result. He made an effort to support his weight on his feet but the second his right foot touched the ground, pain shot through his whole leg in white hot lances.

"Oh, I wouldn't try to stand on your right leg," observed the voice. "I can't be sure but I do believe the bone might just be fractured."

"Go to hell you cock-sucking bastard!"

"Quite to the contrary, Mr Myers," the voice replied. "I am not the one who does not know his own father." There was a pause. "Perhaps you might like to think about that."

"Fuck yourself."

"You know, you might wish you had not said that," mused the voice.

Suddenly the void was filled with light. Eric couldn't help but yelp as his eyes struggled to adjust. He heard a door open and heard people walk into the room. There was a buzz of chat from them, betraying their location to him even though he was temporarily blinded.

"Kleknuti!"

Eric froze. This was his nightmare. This wasn't real.

Something was jabbed against his spine.

"Kleknuti!"

Oh God.

It was real.

He knew what was coming next.

Eric tried to kneel. Tried to drop to his knees to show them he was compliant. Anything but that.

There wasn't enough slack. There was nowhere to move. There was no escape. Though his sight was finally returning, there was nothing to see, just blank wall before him, the chains that held him and the cattle prod wielding man behind him. 

The man cuffed him. Star bursts of pain exploded behind his eyes and he went momentarily limp. The cattle prod was jabbed against his spine once more.

__

Nonononononono...

His skin tingled and then thirty thousand volts poured into him from that contact.

~*~

Rocky heard the door of the dojo open but he didn't think too much of it as he worked on the dojo's accounts. It was early morning and people did come into the dojo to work out before they headed to work.

"Rocky?"

Kimberly's voice dragged him out of his thoughts and away from the accounts. What the hell would she be doing here at this time of day? He left the office to see Kimberly, Alice -- who appeared to be asleep in Kimberly's arms -- along with two other people, a man who if he hadn't been shot then Rocky was a Dutchman, and a woman who looked alarmingly like a walking Barbie-doll.

"Rocky?"

For the first time in Rocky's business life he was glad there was no-one else present in the dojo. "Kim -- what's going on?" he asked, offering her a careful hug, mindful of the sleeping Alice in Kimberly's arms.

"Thank God you're here," Kimberly answered, looking relieved to see him. "It's Eric." For one horrible moment, Rocky thought she meant Eric was the one who had shot her companion. "They've taken him!"

"Mr DeSantos," said the woman, before he could ask what Kimberly meant, "is there somewhere private we can talk?"

"My office," he replied automatically. "But whatever it is -- yes."

She looked startled. "You don't know what I'm going to ask."

Rocky shrugged. "Kim's a friend, Eric's a friend. What do you need me to do?"

The woman, still looking faintly stunned, nodded. "I see."

After carefully locking the dojo's doors to prevent anyone from walking in and finding a man with a gunshot wound in the dojo, Rocky led the group into his office. "You," he said to the man who was visibly in shock, "sit -- I've got a first aid kit. I can patch you up while I get some explanations."

"Sounds good to me," murmured the man, half collapsing into the seat Rocky had indicated.

Rocky opened up the first aid kit and started to clean up the wound, which looked fairly minor but was unquestionably painful. "So...a few introductions, Kim?"

"This's Ian Foster and Danielle Hines," Kimberly began.

"We're former colleagues of Eric's," Hines contributed.

"Not friends?" Rocky queried.

"Sarge didn't really 'do' friends," Foster contributed, wincing. "Not when we knew him, at any rate."

"Sarge?" Rocky asked, not entirely surprised by the rest of Foster's words. That had been a conclusion he'd drawn for himself after the Biocon fiasco.

"Eric was a Marine," Kimberly said.

"Well that explains a few things," Rocky murmured. "So what's going on?"

Between them, Kimberly and Hines explained while Rocky bandaged up Foster's arm.

"I see," said Rocky when they'd finished. "What do you need me to do?"

~*~

Time ceased to have a meaning.

What did it matter whether it was ten minutes or ten seconds? Pain was pain.

The sound of his own screams filled his ears.

His throat was raw.

His whole body trembled.

Every fibre and muscle and sinew and synapse was alive with pure and unadulterated agony.

And there was no release.

There was no order to cease.

There was just the torture.

And that was endless.

~*~

Kimberly opened her mouth to reply but Hines got in first.

"The first thing," she said, "is that we need someone to look after Alice."

"You're going after Eric?" Rocky exclaimed, looking straight at Kimberly.

Kimberly nodded. "I have to."

Rocky nodded slowly, unsurprised, and reached for the phone. "Let me call my wife and Alice is taken care of."

Hines looked a little dubious. "The more people know about this..."

"Aisha won't say anything," Kimberly replied, cutting her off as Rocky started speaking on the phone. "I trust her."

Hines nodded, clearly still reluctant.

"Cawdron's going to have a head fit over this anyway," Foster commented. "We're already into SNAFU territory. One more thing isn't going to make much odds." Foster looked at Kimberly. "Does Sarge know Aisha?" Kimberly nodded. "And I'm betting that if he doesn't know her well, he trusts your judgement...Barbie -- we don't have a whole lotta choice here."

Hines sighed. "I know. Doesn't mean I like it."

"You don't have a problem with my involvement," Kimberly observed.

"You're different," Hines explained. "Like it or not, you're already involved -- you've been involved from the get-go, in fact. It would be very hard to exclude you...and I'm not that cruel."

Rocky put the phone down. "She'll be here in five minutes," he announced. "What else do we need?"

~*~

It was dark again.

They had gone.

But they would return.

Eric shivered convulsively. They had left him hanging by his wrists, like so much meat. He tried to get his left leg, at least, to bear some of his weight but he was shaking too much.

__

I can't do this again...

The darkness was closing in and drawing his fractured attention to the oppressive silence.

__

I can't...

They would probably leave him like this. Leave him hanging in this pitch black, soundless void. Leave him to hang until they were ready to have more fun.

__

I won't...

They would probably start beating on him next. The cattle prod had just been to soften him up -- that much he was sure of. Would they flay him -- like they did in Kosovo? Would they shred the skin and flesh and muscle on his back until he could barely feel what they were doing? Or would they have new toys?

__

I can't...

This was almost worse than the physical pain. Here, in this noiseless, black hole, he was his own torturer. Kosovo had taught him just what depths of cruelty human beings could sink to...and now -- here -- his mind dredged those details up once more.

__

~*~

"Rocky are you sure about this?"

Rocky looked up from locking the dojo doors at Kimberly's query. "Yes." Aisha had come down and collected Alice, leaving Rocky free to accompany Kimberly, Hines and Foster back to Silverhills to meet up with Cawdron and the head of the intelligence operation. He was fairly sure that Cawdron would veto the idea of him or Kimberly joining any rescue mission, but he wouldn't have felt right not going.

"You don't have to..."

"I know I don't have to," Rocky replied, offering her a tight smile. "You need a friend. I know you don't want to think about..."

"He's **going** to be OK," Kimberly cut in.

Rocky slowly shook his head, although whether it was at Kimberly's determination or at how much Eric had come to mean to Kimberly in such a short while he wasn't sure. _God help this bel Abis jerk if Eric isn't all right._ "You still need a friend," Rocky repeated. "Whatever happens."

Kimberly smiled faintly. "Thank you."

"Ready?" Hines asked.

"Yep." Rocky nodded.

"Good." Hines gestured to the SUV where Foster was already ensconced. "Let's hit the road."

~*~

"So, how did you like your first taste of my hospitality?"

It took Eric several minutes before he realised that the voice was back and that he wasn't actually imagining it. 

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Fuck off." He knew continuing to be defiant was a short road to a lot of pain but not being defiant meant he'd given in.

"Such language!" exclaimed the voice in mock surprise. "Whatever would little Alice think?"

Anger surged through Eric. "You bastard!" he yelled.

But that just provoked more mocking disapproval. "Need I remind you which one of us has no knowledge of their father?"

Eric had attached no importance to it the first time bel Abis had brought up his past but at the second mention, every sense went onto alert. "What do you know about that?"

Laughter greeted the question. "You would be amazed what I know." There was a pause. "But I think, perhaps, I might leave you to wonder about that. I have...other things to attend to."

Eric felt something jab into his left leg. Panic flooded through him, even as he felt the syringe empty into his leg.

"Sweet dreams, Mr Myers," stated bel Abis. "I have some...carnal delights to enjoy. Sorry to say you won't have the same comforts."

Eric opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. The drug was starting to act. Even though it was pitch black and he had no visual clues, he felt as though the world was spinning around him. Faster and faster and faster. Up was down. Left was right. He was falling. Hard. Fast.

Then he hit the ground and everything faded out.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	9. Chapter 8: Hallucination

Disclaimer: You recognise it, I don't own it. See prologue for details.

Many thanks to Irina and Gamine for nit spotting.

While this whole story is R rated, this is one of the chapters that earned it that rating.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing...

~*~

Chapter 8 -- Hallucination

Eric found himself standing at the back of the Silver Guardians' auditorium. That he had no knowledge of how he came to be there, or what he'd been doing before finding himself there was faintly worrying, but the familiar setting allayed that.

The hall was filled with every Silver Guardian -- or at least it looked that way, and Eric wasn't going to do a head count to prove or disprove the theory. Up on the platform was Mr Collins -- nothing strange about that and yet...

"You are gathered here today," Collins was saying, "in order for me to relay to you some extremely bad news."

It dawned on Eric that Wes and Jen didn't appear to be present. Had something happened to them? And if that was the case, why hadn't he been told? Why was he hearing this with everyone else?

"It is my sad duty to relay to you the news that we have lost a commander, a colleague -- a friend."

__

Something's happened to Wes? No! Not to Jen -- this isn't fair.

"Eric Myers..."

"What?!"

Eric hadn't intended to exclaim out loud, but it happened anyway. He expected people to look round but no-one moved. Collins didn't even so much as break step in his carefully worked out speech.

"I'm not dead!" Eric turned to the guardian he was standing next to. "I'm **here**!" But the man beside him didn't so much as blink.

He reached out to shake the man's shoulders...and found his hand passing through the other guardian -- as if the other guardian wasn't there. Or he wasn't.

"I'm **not** dead..." But Eric's conviction was shaken. He stared at his hands in vague horror. What was happening to him?

"Oh but you are," put in a voice just to his left. He spun round to see bel Abis standing next to him. Eric went to lunge for the smiling man only to find himself restrained by something. 

"What do you mean?" Eric hissed.

bel Abis' smile widened a little. "You are dead -- as far as they are concerned." bel Abis laughed. "You have been dead to them from the moment that you left their sight."

"You're lying!"

"You doubt me?" bel Abis enquired. "Let me show you how you are mourned."

Before Eric could do or say anything, bel Abis clapped his hands together and the scene changed. Gone was the auditorium and the ranks of Silver Guardians, and instead, Eric found himself standing on Maple Street, outside Kimberly's house. Kimberly was in the front yard, tending to the plants there.

"Kim..." Eric took a step forward.

Suddenly, the door of Kimberly's house opened and out bounced Alice.

"Daddy!" she yelled, running forwards.

Eric watched as Kimberly looked up from her work, smiling at him with the same smile she had given him when he'd kissed her. Eric felt his heart swell at the sight as Alice ran towards him...only to feel it shatter as she ran beyond him. Eric turned to see her leap at a stranger.

A tall, handsome stranger with the sort of clear-cut features often found in the pages of magazines. The kind of man that Eric had always found himself coming second to in everything. Bile started to rise in the back of his throat.

"Daddy you're home!" she squealed.

The stranger laughed and swung her up into his arms. "I certainly am, darling."

Eric could only watch in numb shock and horror as the stranger carried Alice back towards the house. Kimberly all but jumped to her feet, brushing dirt from her hands, virtually running to greet the stranger and smiling at him.

"Good trip?" she asked.

"It was OK." The stranger set Alice down and drew Kimberly into an embrace. "But I missed you." The love was obvious in his voice and it was matched by the expression on Kimberly's face. As the stranger bent to kiss Kimberly, Eric felt the shards of his heart shatter.

"No..." he whispered, wanting to look away from the obviously happy couple but being unable to tear his gaze from them as they kissed.

"She didn't love you," bel Abis commented. "You were just...convenient."

"No..." Sadness mutated into anger and again Eric tried to lash out at the oily, smiling man beside him but again he found himself somehow restrained.

"Bastard," Eric hissed.

"You've just dictated where we go next." bel Abis clapped his hands again, and again the scene changed.

Eric looked about himself, puzzled. He didn't recognise this place; in fact he couldn't see much of it. Everything was grey and misty, the outlines of objects blurring before his eyes. He thought it might have been an office, but he wasn't sure.

The sound of a telephone ringing dragged Eric's attention to the 'desk' -- or what might be a desk, if this was an office.

"Yes?"

The voice that answered the call was a man's voice but no matter how hard Eric strained his eyes, he couldn't pierce the fog to make out any details about him.

"I see. You're sure about that?" There was a pause, then the speaker gave a sigh. "I see. Thank you."

  
Eric heard the receiver set back into its cradle.

"Well you always **were** a disappointment, Eric," the speaker muttered. "Now you're a dead disappointment." There was another sigh. "I'm glad I never bothered to get to know you."

The speaker slowly stood up. Eric heard the chair scrape against the floor, followed by footsteps. Suddenly a figure appeared out of the mist and Eric felt his knees turn to water. He could have been looking in a mirror. The man looked just like him, except older.

Eric felt gut-punched. He shook his head, trying to deny what he was looking at. "Nonono..." 

"Oh yes," bel Abis replied. "Your father knew about you. Has known about you your whole life but..." bel Abis smirked. "You disappointed him."

Eric felt sick to his stomach. It had long been a sore spot that he didn't know his father and hearing that his father knew who he was but didn't get to know him...didn't want to know him...didn't even care. He wanted to fold into a foetal ball, as though that might somehow cure the pain but the same restraint that prevented him from attacking bel Abis prevented him from doing that. He was left standing, frozenly staring at his father.

Or where his father had been standing. He somehow missed the clap of bel Abis' hands that heralded another location change. Now they were standing in a very generic apartment that could have literally been anywhere.

__

I can't take this...

"Wes!"

Jen's voice pulled him from his brooding. Mr Collins had been delivering a nice eulogy...surely Wes and Jen would be at least remembering him fondly.

"Don't bet on that," bel Abis chuckled.

Looking round, Eric felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Wes was holding a bottle of champagne and wearing a huge grin. _It could be for any number of reasons,_ he tried to remind himself.

"No more whining, bitching loser," Wes exclaimed, popping the cork.

"Yes!" Jen agreed, producing two glasses. "We're finally rid of him."

"Nonononono they wouldn't DO THIS!" Eric knew the last part of his sentence was more howl than coherent speech -- he didn't care.

"Wouldn't they?" bel Abis retorted.

Suddenly everything was pitch black and Eric found himself alone. It took him a moment to realise that he was back, in the void, hanging by his wrists once more. It had been a hallucination. It was all a hallucination -- a product of his own mind.

"You coward!"

Kimberly was standing before him. Impossibly, he could see her. He shouldn't have been able to see her. It was pitch dark -- but there she was.

__

Hallucination, he tried to tell himself.

Then she slapped him. Hard.

"You fucking coward," she hissed. "You couldn't stay and face your problems like a real man, no you had to run away. Now look at you." She took a step closer. "You're fucked and you've taken Alice and me along for the ride."

"No..." Eric shook his head. They had got away. They had to have got away.

"And do you know what?" she continued, an ugly sneer marring her face. "You're pathetic."

For the second time Eric felt his heart fragment. "Kim...I..."

"Shut up you son of a bitch!" She slapped him again. "You dragged me into this shit...do you know what that twisted bastard is doing to me? Do you even care?" She got into his face. "Do you know what he's done to Alice?"

"No...no..."

"Shut up!" She slapped him a third time, fingernails scoring his cheek. "You fucking coward. You've cost me my daughter's life!"

"Kim... **No!**"

The scream shattered the hallucination and Eric found himself back in the void, alone once more, chest heaving.

"No more," he begged.

"Plenty more," said a fresh voice.

Gina Thomas and Ben Johnson loomed out of the darkness, closely followed by Hines and Foster.

"You lied to me," Gina stated, glaring angrily.

"To think I looked up to you," spat Foster. "You're nothing but a fucked up, cowardly asshole."

"His arrogance got Porter killed," said Ben. "And Carter and whoever else we lost before Ransik was defeated. You turned that fight into your own personal war."

"I didn't..."

"You did and you know it."

"You're mentally unstable," put in Hines. "You shouldn't have been left in charge of a box of doughnuts much less leading a group of **real** warriors into battle."

"You got me shot," chimed in a new voice and Franklin, the young Private who had been shot in the retreat from the Novask barn appeared to stand beside Hines. "I nearly died thanks to you."

"It was a flesh wound...I..."

Franklin stepped forward and leaned in until he was standing virtually nose-to-nose. "I got blood poisoning. All because you had to be a hero."

"I...no..." Eric swallowed. "I did my job."

"You fucked up," Foster retorted.

"I did my job."

"You fucked up," chanted Foster, Hines, Ben and Franklin.

"You're a sad fucked up bastard," said Gina.

"No...no..."

"Yes!"

"**Noooooooooooooo!**"

The scream reverberated off whatever the void had been built of, fracturing the hallucination into tiny shards and leaving him alone again, but not for long as footsteps started to echo in the void.

"Eric you promised me you'd be all right." Out of the darkness came Alice and with her was the slightly bigger form of Iliya, the little girl who had been caught up in the fire fight in Novask.

"You promised me you would help my mother," Iliya contributed, speaking in heavily accented English. "But you didn't."

"And you're not all right," Alice added. "You let them hurt you again."

"I..." But Eric had even less defence against Alice's accusations.

"And you let them hurt me," Alice continued. "The bad men hit me, Eric, and you let them," she accused. Looking up at him with a combination of sadness, regret and anger that made Eric's stomach knot up, she added, "I don't want you as a daddy -- you're as bad as my real daddy."

"Alice...no..."

"Da," Iliya agreed. "He is a..." She paused a moment, clearly hunting for a word. "A bastard."

Alice cocked her head, then nodded. "Yes he is."

"No..." Eric could feel tears beginning to roll down his checks. "Alice..."

"You let me down," Alice hissed. "You promised you'd be all right."

"You let me down," chimed in Iliya. "You promised you'd help my mother."

"You let me down." Gina joined the chorus. "You lied to me."

"You let me down." Ben's turn. "You got my friends killed."

"You let me down." Hines' voice joined the litany. "You're mentally disturbed."

"You let me down." Foster now. "I looked up to you but you're just a coward."

"You let me down." Kimberly. "You let bel Abis get me. You've let him hurt me and you've let him hurt Alice."

"No...stop...it's not true..."

"I hate you." Three words, spoken by everyone.

"Nonononononoooo..." 

Light flared in the void. The hallucinations vanished in the glare but that was no comfort.

"Kleknuti!"

"**NO!**"

Eric could see the man advancing on him, cattle prod at the ready. He tried to move out of the way but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere he could move to. The cattle prod touched his stomach.

The man depressed the trigger and the hallucination exploded into darkness once more. 

He was alone.

They hadn't returned.

It took a long while for his heart rate to slow.

But in that time there were no further hallucinations. No more accusations. Nothing. Just the blackness and the silence -- and for once, Eric felt that was the better end of the deal.

Then, into the absolute silence came a scaly rattle and a breathy, sibilant hiss.

Eric froze.

The sound was coming from above him.

He looked.

He could see the chains that the manacles were attached to...and could see the snakes that were slowly descending the chain, getting ever closer to his hands and arms.

It didn't matter that his throat was already raw from screaming; it didn't matter that he had virtually no voice left. There was no power that could stop Eric from screaming.

~*~

Zafar bel Abis leaned closer to the monitor.

He wished he could see what Myers was hallucinating -- whatever it was, it was certainly having a profound effect on the man. The screams were truly unearthly.

"Commander...sir..."

Without looking away, bel Abis answered, "If you do not have the stomach for this, Ishmal, you should not have signed on."

There was a loud swallow from the man standing behind him. "It's...um... **He** is here."

bel Abis blinked. "He is here?" he echoed. "What he would this be?"

"Aaron Lemont," stated a cold voice.

bel Abis spun round to find himself facing Aaron Lemont. "You're early."

"And you fucked up," Lemont snarled. "There were supposed to be no witnesses."

bel Abis waved a negligent hand. "They will not do anything."

"Won't they?" Lemont retorted, grabbing bel Abis by the shirtfront. "Cawdron and his two minions have gone AWOL. I can't prove it, but I know they've joined up with Peterson's operation."

"That is your problem, not mine. Peterson is your grudge."

"And you would be languishing in jail without my help. You owe me, bel Abis, and right now, Peterson's little operation is probably closer to figuring this out than either of us would like. I want to know what you're going to do about it."

Fastidiously, bel Abis detached Lemont's hands from his shirt. "I will do nothing if you retain this attitude. I have nothing to lose. You, on the other hand, have everything to lose." Lemont glared. "Peterson still does not know where this facility is. If you will allow me the courtesy of a little time to think, I will tell you what **we** will do."

"You'd better."

bel Abis smiled and turned back to the monitor. Myers was still under the influence of the hallucinogen. "Oh, trust me, General, I have no desire to languish in jail. I will think of a suitable plan of action."

~*~

Kimberly followed Hines and Foster into the Silver Guardians headquarters. It seemed strange to be here without Eric -- although, she realised, she hadn't actually been here before, with or without Eric.

"Where are Wes and Jen?" Rocky wondered.

"On holiday," stated Ben Johnson who was accompanying them through the headquarters. "They went on Monday."

"Oh." There didn't seem to be a lot more to say.

At that moment, the little party reached a door. Hines knocked.

"Come in."

"SNAFU," Foster murmured. "We're already SNAFU."

Hines just shot him a look that Kimberly interpreted as 'shut up', before opening the door and leading the group into the room. It proved to be a small conference room.

"Hines -- Foster, what happened?" asked one of the two occupants of the room.

"Colonel..." 

But Kimberly paid Hines' explanations to Cawdron only cursory notice as her attention was dragged to the other man. He reminded her of someone. The shape of his face, the body language...but the colouring and build were 'wrong'. She couldn't place the familiarity at all.

"...I **know** we weren't followed to the pick-up point," Hines finished, "which leaves only one possibility."

Kimberly watched, stunned, as the man lifted his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "A mole," he groaned.

Kimberly knew that gesture. Knew that whole tone of voice and resigned posture. "Eric!" Suddenly she found herself the centre of attention. "Oops."

The man looked wryly amused. "I presume, ma'am, that was not intended to be a contribution to this discussion."

Kimberly found herself blushing.

"Hines, would you like to conduct some introductions here?" Cawdron asked. "Then you can tell me what in the blue hell two civilians are doing here in the first place."

Hines nodded. "This is Kimberly Cunningham -- Mr...err...Eric's neighbour -- and Rocky DeSantos..."

"Just call me moral support," Rocky put in, offering Cawdron a smile.

"Kim, Rocky, this is Colonel John Cawdron and Colonel Frank Peterson," Hines continued.

"Now we all know each other..." Cawdron began, looking meaningfully at Hines.

"Sir..."

"I want to help," Kimberly cut in.

"Why?" Cawdron asked. "From what Myers told me on the phone, you have a young daughter...of whom I see no sign."

"She's with my wife," Rocky put in. 

Cawdron just looked expectantly at Kimberly. "Because...to be honest with you, Colonel, I owe Eric this. He is my friend...and I cannot just sit back and let this happen."

Cawdron sat back in his seat, arms folded impassively. "Frank -- this is your show."

Peterson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Considering I've already got one semi-civilian on the team plus three AWOL Marines...I'm so far outside of protocol that two more civilians aren't going to make that much difference and," he added, looking at Kimberly and Rocky, "it will probably help to have at least one person on the team that E...the subject knows well enough to trust. Ma'am," he continued, "I'm guessing that would be you." Kimberly made no reply, sensing none was required. "Ladies, gentlemen -- please have a seat. Time is of the essence."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	10. Chapter 9: Breaking the Grip

Disclaimer: See the prologue for details. Suffice to say, if you recognise it it's not mine.

With thanks to Gamine as ever for the beta'ing, chivvying and all round support, not to mention being a wonderful human being. Thanks also to Irina for the beta'ing and help. And thank you to Chris for also being a wonderful human being and sounding board. Muchos gracias.

Please offer feedback, it tells me how I'm doing...

~*~

Chapter 9 -- Breaking the Grip

The briefing was short. There was painfully little information to go on. All they really knew, as Kimberly learned, was that bel Abis had a base somewhere between Silverhills and Malibu. And that this appeared to be a long-standing grudge.

None of which was really news.

"What we need," said Peterson as he finished, "is..."

Cutting him off, there was a knock on the conference room door and then the Silver Guardians' receptionist appeared. "Sorry to intrude," she said, apologetically, "but I have a phone call for Colonel Peterson."

Kimberly couldn't help but shiver as Peterson reacted with the exact same surprised expression she'd seen so often on Eric's face. "Did they say who it was?" he asked.

The receptionist shook her head. "Just said it was important -- and that you'd want to speak to him."

Kimberly watched as Peterson and Cawdron exchanged looks. Cawdron shrugged and Peterson got to his feet. "I'll be right back."

When Peterson got to his feet, Kimberly realised Eric was several inches shorter and much stockier in build but for all that she had to pinch herself. Peterson might have been a completely different build but he had the same fluid grace to his movements and she was willing to bet that he was just as lethal a predator as Eric was. As Peterson left the room to take the phone call, she shook her head. 

__

This is too weird, she decided. _He has to be related to Eric...but..._

"Ms Cunningham?" Kimberly realised that Cawdron was trying to speak to her. "May I have a word?"

"Um...sure."

No-one looked up from their individual conversations as Kimberly followed Cawdron from the room.

"Just how well do you know Myers?" he asked once they were out into the hallway.

Kimberly smiled wryly. "Probably about as well as anyone, given he virtually doesn't talk about himself -- why?"

Cawdron sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "You're right."

Kimberly frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You're right -- Frank **is** Myers' father. To be honest, I'm a little surprised that no-one else has commented on it."

__

Knowing Eric, I'm not, Kimberly mused.

"I..."

But whatever Cawdron was about to say was lost as Peterson returned, looking both sickened and purposeful.

"News?" Cawdron said instead.

"Good and bad," Peterson answered, grimly. "The mystery caller proved to be one Ishmal Mushtaq." The name meant about as much to Cawdron as it did to Kimberly, to judge from his expression. "He's well known within Intel circles as an all mouth and no trousers character. Very vocal but basically harmless."

Kimberly wondered where this was going.

"So?" Cawdron queried.

Peterson smiled grimly. "He's one of my...sources." Whatever that term meant, Cawdron clearly recognised it although Kimberly felt none-the-wiser. "And he's just come up with information that can put bel Abis and his..." Peterson's face contorted into grimace, "partner in crime away for good." 

~*~

Eric hung by his wrists. He was beyond caring that his arms and especially his shoulders were throbbing with pain. A strangely detached aspect of his mind noted that the chances were good that his shoulders had probably been dislocated but he couldn't even dredge up the energy to care about that.

What did it matter?

He was as good as dead.

Sooner or later they would return with their 'toys', or maybe it would be more hallucinations. Either way, there was no way out of this.

~*~

Kimberly slipped into her seat.

"What was that all about?" Rocky asked softly. But Kimberly shook her head. If Cawdron had wanted Peterson and Eric's relationship to be universally known, he wouldn't have taken the time to take her aside.

"Brass tacks," said Peterson, taking his own seat once more. "We've got new information. Some good news...some bad news." Kimberly realised with a jolt that the bad news was likely to be related to Eric's condition. "First the good news. We know where bel Abis has based himself. It's an old industrial compound two hours due south of Silverhills. Fortification and security systems are unknown, but not thought to be extensive. bel Abis has only had four weeks to set this up, at the end of the day.

"The even better news is that the guards number less than twenty. Unfortunately, we don't know what they're armed with, but you can take it as read that they are armed." Peterson's expression turned grim. "And my information is that the two men behind all this -- bel Abis and his co-conspirator -- are currently at the facility. Any questions so far?"

"Who is the co-conspirator?" Foster asked.

Kimberly watched as Peterson shifted a little in his seat. "Aaron Lemont."

If Peterson's body language had been interesting, the reactions of Cawdron, Hines and Foster were fascinating. Whoever Lemont was the trio clearly knew him and were completely shocked.

"What?" Cawdron finally managed. "As in...?"

"As in," Peterson agreed. "And yes, your suspicions are looking more and more correct. This whole sorry mess has been one huge set up."

Kimberly wondered what Peterson meant, but judging from Foster's expression -- which was somewhere verging on nauseated -- whatever it did mean, it wasn't good.

"Everything?" asked Hines.

Peterson gave a shrug. "I can't say for sure, but I'm willing to put money on **everything** having been a set up. Particularly what went on in Novask."

"Novask?" Rocky put in, breaking up the military confab. "I know you guys know what you're talking about but I'm totally lost here."

Peterson had the grace to look marginally sheepish. "Potted history," he said. "This is not the first time that bel Abis has crossed the radar of Intel. The last time was three years ago, in Kosovo..."

Kimberly listened as Peterson briefly outlined Eric's previous brush with bel Abis and shivered. Even though Eric had already told her the basics, it was still alarming to hear the details, and even more so because she began to realise what Peterson meant by everything.

"But why would someone go to all that trouble to get a USMC foot patrol?" Hines finally exclaimed.

"Not the patrol," said Kimberly quietly, the pieces slotting together. "This has always been about Eric, hasn't it?"

Peterson nodded. "It's looking that way."

"But why?" asked Ben. "This doesn't make sense."

"No," Peterson agreed. "It doesn't make sense." But his whole bearing screamed to Kimberly that there was sense to be found.

"So who is Aaron Lemont?" asked Rocky.

"A general in the USMC," said Cawdron. "And formerly my CO."

"And Eric's," put in Foster, who still looked sick. "You're saying," he added, "that my overall CO was willing to kill five other people to get to one man."

Kimberly watched Peterson nod reluctantly. "It's looking that way."

"And you're telling me there's no reason?!"

Peterson froze in another gesture that was eerily reminiscent of Eric. _He knows the reason,_ Kimberly realised, with fast mounting horror. _He's known all along!_

"There is a reason," Peterson finally said softly. "Lemont holds a serious grudge against Mr Myers' father..."

Kimberly knew Peterson was saying more, explaining the ins and outs of the grudge, the wheres, hows and whys, but she had stopped listening. White-hot anger started to flood through her. _This is all your fault?! You did this to your own son?!_ She was vaguely aware of Cawdron shaking his head; of Rocky asking her what was wrong.

"What you're saying," she cut in, "is that this is all Eric's father's fault?"

Cawdron blanched at her tone. Peterson just looked like Eric had done when she had confronted him after the Biocon affair. 

There was a leaden pause.

"Yes, unfortunately, I am," Peterson finally agreed.

"I have a question for you," Kimberly continued. "Does Eric's father know about this?"

"Kim?" Rocky murmured.

"Does he?" Kimberly persisted.

Peterson finally managed a nod. "He does."

"And has he ever told Eric about this grudge?" Kimberly asked.

Peterson looked almost luridly pale now, but to Kimberly's general surprise, he continued to meet her angry glare. "No, he hasn't -- because until today, he was unaware that Lemont had taken things this far."

"How could he not tell Sarge about this?" Foster asked, stunned.

"Because," Peterson answered, "as I said, as far as he was aware, Lemont didn't **know** about the connection between him and Eric Myers. It isn't something he advertises for precisely this reason."

"But don't you think it might have been **fair** for him to have told Eric?" Kimberly persisted. 

"Yes," Peterson retorted, "maybe with hindsight he should have done. Maybe," he added, "there are a lot of things he should have done differently. Hindsight, however, is always twenty/twenty, Ms Cunningham. You obviously care a great deal for Mr Myers. Now, unless you want to give Mr Myers' father and yourself even more cause to indulge in hindsight, might I suggest we get back to the matter at hand?"

The obvious common sense in the statement was enough to make Kimberly subside, at least verbally. "Excuse me -- I need to visit the ladies' room." She got to her feet.

"Kim?" Rocky asked softly, but Kimberly shook her head. 

She would have loved to have talked to someone about this -- but until Eric knew the truth or...no. She refused to think of the 'or'. Eric would come back and he would be able to learn the truth of this matter. And then...well then it would be all right to talk this through with Rocky. But not until Eric knew.

Without a glance at either Cawdron or Peterson, Kimberly left the room.

~*~

How long had he been hanging here in this black, soundless void?

Eric didn't know.

His sense of time was confused. It could have been five minutes or it could have been five hours, or even five days.

What did it matter how long it had been?

It wasn't like he was getting out of here.

__

You're so full of shit, Eric.

Eric's head snapped up. The words echoing in his mind were Wes', but there was no hallucination. Where had the words come from then?

Oh, yeah. Memory.

__

"OK, hotshot -- how do you figure that one?"

__

"You're sitting there going 'poor me' -- look beyond yourself for once."

"What?"

"Eric, yes you're injured. Yes, you're confined to your desk. At least you're **here**."

"I don't follow."

"Boy can you be **dense** sometimes. What are you doing tonight again?"

"Baby sitting for Kimberly."

"Right. Think about it."

It was an odd memory to surface. He and Wes had been talking not long after his release from hospital, after the other rangers had gone back to the year 3000. He had been feeling particularly down, given the physical restrictions he'd been under and had been taking it out on Wes...at least until Wes had made him stop and think.

And realise that yes, his surviving was a good thing.

His relationship with Kimberly and with Alice.

Kimberly's face swam before his eyes. Not the contorted, hateful image that he'd seen so many times in the hallucination but the smile she'd given him when they'd been talking in the hotel room. The smile she'd given him when he'd invited her to sleep with him.

__

The real Kimberly, he realised. _The real person. Not my paranoid fantasies. The woman I love and who loves me..._

He paused, testing that thought.

And realised that it was true. He was as sure as he could be that she loved him.

She loved him.

It didn't matter what bel Abis threw at him; Kimberly loved him.

__

"You think we can make this work?"

"We'll make it work."

It was a promise he'd made to Kimberly. _It's a promise I'm going to make good on,_ he decided. _I **am** going to get out of this._ He clenched his jaw. _I'm tired of running from myself. **When** I get out of this, I am going to tell Kim I love her._

~*~

"Give him a break."

Kimberly jumped at the words. She hadn't realised anyone had followed her. Looking round, she saw Hines standing in the doorway of the ladies' room, leaning against the door, effectively preventing anyone from coming in -- or out, for that matter.

"What do you mean?" Kimberly asked, aware her voice gave away how upset she actually felt now.

"I mean, give him a break," Hines repeated.

"You know." It wasn't a question, but Hines nodded. "How?"

"I had a major crush on Eric when I first met him," Hines explained. "I spent six months sharing an office with him...and probably spent more time staring at him than I did at my own work." Hines looked embarrassed. "Anyway, the end result was I put two and two together the second I met Colonel Peterson."

"Oh."

Hines smiled faintly. "It's not easy on him."

"It's his **fault**!" Kimberly exclaimed.

"Exactly," Hines replied. "He knows that. How do you imagine it makes him feel? He was hoping that when this was all sorted out he might be able to try and get a relationship with Eric...that chance has just about gone thanks to Lemont."

Kimberly turned so that she was facing Hines properly. "So? And?"

"I don't know the whole story," Hines continued, "but how would you feel if you knew you had a son, knew who he was, but had never been able to be a part of his life for one reason or another and your one chance to change that was taken away from you **because** of you?"

Kimberly didn't want to feel any sympathy with Peterson but Hines had a point.

"He has to live with that," Hines stated gently. "No-one likes the knowledge that they've hurt their child -- even if that child **is** twenty-seven and commander in chief of a private security force."

"Twenty-eight," Kimberly corrected absently.

"Pardon?"

"It was Eric's birthday this week. He's twenty-eight now."

Hines winced. "Don't tell me. Tuesday."

"Yeah." Kimberly sighed. "Hell of a birthday present."

Hines slowly shook her head. "Oh, man."

"If this is Peterson's show..."

Hines reluctantly nodded. "The timing of Cawdron's visit was down to Colonel Peterson."

"Son of a bitch."

Hines shook her head again. "Not the way you think."

Kimberly folded her arms and glared at Hines, waiting.

Hines sighed. "I don't know all the ins and outs, Fos and I only got in on this when things went ca-ca on Tuesday night, but I do know Colonel Peterson put a call in to Cawdron on Monday night." She grimaced. "I'm guessing here, but I'd say **someone** was using Eric's birthday -- just not Peterson."

"How can you be so reasonable?"

Hines smiled wryly. "I guess it helps that I was around to see just how worried Peterson was first thing yesterday morning when we didn't have a clue where you and Eric had vanished to."

"I don't want to forgive him."

"You don't have to. Just give him a break."

Kimberly turned away from Hines to face the sink in the ladies' room. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Kim, if you don't, you won't be in the rescue party -- and Eric needs you to be there."

Kimberly ran some water into the sink and splashed a little onto her face, trying to freshen herself up. _I have to try,_ she mused. _For Eric._ "I can't make any promises, but I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do," Hines replied. "Ready?"

Kimberly sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She could see Hines standing behind her, looking not unsympathetic. "Yeah." She sighed. "About as ready as I'm going to be."

~*~

The light flared in the void.

Eric grimaced but the new determination he had for surviving this nightmare leant him the strength of will not to cry out, even though he knew the sudden influx of light would leave him temporarily blind.

"You're pathetic, really," said a voice. "You scream so easily."

The voice was familiar to Eric, but it wasn't the faintly accented English tones of bel Abis.

"But you're a means to an end," the voice continued.

Eric could hear footsteps and hear the voice moving as the words were spoken. He judged the speaker had probably come to a halt directly in front of him -- but squinting told him nothing more than there was a blur before him. Certainly not enough to identify the speaker.

"You don't even recognise me, do you?" 

Eric found himself chuckling, humourlessly, as he finally placed the voice.

__

"My hands are tied -- officially you weren't there."

The last time he'd heard it, the owner had effectively terminated his career in the Marines. Blinking, his eyesight finally recovered enough to back up the gut feeling. "Gee, I'd salute, General, but I'm kinda hung up right now."

Lemont curled his lip in a sneer. "You always were a smart mouth, Myers."

"And you're an asshole," Eric retorted, "but who's keeping score?"

Lemont glared. Eric could see the older man's hands clenching as though he wanted to lash out. "Not smart, pissing off the man who's holding bel Abis' leash."

"Can't even do your own dirty work, huh?"

"It's lucky for you I need you whole right now."

"You don't know how special that makes me feel," Eric drawled.

"You're just like your goddamn father -- he never knew when to shut up either."

Eric froze momentarily at that. "Guess you didn't do your homework, **sir**," he finally said. "If you think that son of a bitch is going to give a damn one way or the other about me you're wrong."

Lemont smiled, viciously. "Ah, there it's you that's wrong, Myers. See, **you** might not know dear ol' dad, but I do. And trust me," Lemont added, "he cares a great deal about you."

Eric snorted. "And I should believe the word of some fuck-up who can't do his own dirty work?"

Eric knew the blow was coming possibly even before Lemont knew it. The older man's fist slammed into his jaw and Eric heard a crunch. There was pain following it, but as he worked his jaw surreptitiously, he realised that most of the crunch had been Lemont's hand.

He forced himself to smile. "A fuck-up who can't do his own dirty work and doesn't know how to throw a decent punch."

"You will be sorry you said that," Lemont promised, nursing his hand. "Just as soon as I've stopped having any use for you, I'll turn you over to bel Abis. You broke under him once -- you'll do it again."

~*~

"...our information is that his physical condition is basically good," Peterson was saying as Kimberly returned to her seat.

"OK?" Rocky asked softly.

Kimberly gave a brief nod. She felt anything but OK, but for Eric's sake, she needed to fake it.

"The plan," Peterson continued, "is simple. We have a recon. team currently surveying the site. The six of us -- that is, Mr Johnson, Mr DeSantos, Ms Cunningham, Colonel Cawdron, Corporal Hines and myself," he paused and gave Foster an apologetic look, "will hit the highway shortly, heading for the facility. Mr Johnson, I believe your organisation uses energy weapons of some description?"

"Blasters," Ben agreed. "Stun or kill as required."

Peterson nodded. "I don't like the idea of two civilians going into a mess like this unarmed, nor do I like the idea of handing over firearms."

"We have spares," said Ben. "I know Rocky knows how to use one. Kim have you got any weapons training?"

"Yes," she answered. It was not quite a complete lie but close to it. Her Ranger experience should compensate, though. She hoped. _How hard could a Silver Guardian blaster be to use?_

Peterson nodded. "All right. What we actually do at the compound is going to depend a lot on the recon. information. Sergeant Foster, you and Mr Johnson's second in command will be in contact with us and you will be providing backup, should it be needed." Foster nodded. "Any questions?" Silence. "Good. We leave in half an hour. Mr Johnson..." But Peterson didn't need to finish as Ben was already nodding.

"Got it covered," he said, getting to his feet. "Rocky, Kim -- if you come with me, I'll fix you up with an equipment harness and blaster."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	11. Chapter 10: Dealing With The Past

Disclaimer: Anyone here not know the deal by now? Check the prologue!

With exceptionally grateful thanks to Gamine, beta-reader extraordinaire (not to mention all round wonderful person). Also with thanks to Chris and Irina who've both read and offered me feedback that shaped the writing of this chapter. Lastly, thanks to Ekat who took a quick look over this after I decided (at 7pm the night before posting) to do a couple of majorish re-writes... I am not worthy!

This chapter does come with a minor content warning -- yep, it's another one that earned this story its R rating.

Please offer feedback, it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 10 -- Dealing with the Past

The weight of the Silver Guardian equipment harness would have been a constant reminder of what she was going to do even if the mission had somehow managed to slip Kimberly's mind. _Not much danger of that,_ she mused. The very fact that she was lying, flat, just on the brow of a small hill, looking down over a disused ore processing plant tended to prevent forgetting the mission.

When they'd reached the rendezvous point with the recon. team, Peterson had spoken with the four-man team before devising the final plan. He had paired everyone off and positioned them at various points around the ore processing plant. Kimberly had found herself partnered by Hines.

"Nervous?" Hines asked softly.

"A bit," Kimberly admitted.

"Me too," Hines replied.

Kimberly looked at Hines. "You're a Marine!"

"And?" Hines shook her head a little. "Doesn't mean I stop getting nervous."

Kimberly realised the stupidity of her own statement and ducked her head in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Hines grinned. "It's OK."

Kimberly sighed. "Think the ten of us can take this place?"

Hines nodded. "It's not going to be easy, but we have the element of surprise on our side. Smaller teams have accomplished bigger tasks."

That was something Kimberly couldn't dispute. In some ways, given her past, she was a little surprised by just how nervous she was about this. _But back then, we had backup on an amazing scale. What do we have now?_

~*~

"Well?" snapped Lemont, entering the control room.

"Well what?" bel Abis retorted. "Did you enjoy your little chat with Mr Myers?"

Lemont snorted. "Son of a bitch."

"I'll take that as a no."

Lemont grabbed him by the shirtfront again. "I want to know what you're going to do about Cawdron and his little minions."

"We," bel Abis said pointedly, detaching Lemont's fist from his shirt, "are going to do nothing. My men, on the other hand, are going to spring a trap."

Lemont stared. "A trap?"

bel Abis smirked. "Whilst you were venting your fury on my guest, my aide, Ishmal was putting the finishing touches to the ambush."

"Ambush? What ambush?" Lemont grabbed him again. "Stop talking in fucking riddles and get to the point."

"Colonel Peterson is, even as you stand her ruining a perfectly good shirt," bel Abis responded, again detaching Lemont's hands, "is preparing to storm this compound."

Lemont paled. "This?!" he exclaimed. "This was your plan? **Lead** the bastard here?!"

"So quick to judge." bel Abis shook his head in mock sorrow. "Ishmal Mushtaq is one of Peterson's sources. He is also my aide -- and completely loyal. It is amazing what you can get for the right price," he mused.

"Get. To. The. Point," gritted Lemont.

bel Abis smiled displaying a full set of teeth. "The point, **sir**, is that I have had Ishmal feed Peterson certain pieces of...regrettably false details. They will be arriving shortly, if they are not already here, expecting this compound to be barely defended. They will be in for an extremely rude awakening."

Lemont glared. "This had better work."

"Or what?" retorted bel Abis. "You'll kill me? I hardly feel threatened by that -- if this fails to work we will both be dead. So it is in my own best interests that it shouldn't fail. And it won't."

~*~

In the darkness of the void, Lemont's words echoed through Eric's mind.

__

You might not know dear ol' dad, but I do.

There was absolutely no reason for him to believe Lemont's comments and yet... And yet they wouldn't leave him alone. Largely, he realised, because bel Abis had been making similar insinuations.

The hallucination he'd had of his father returned to him. That was **his** idea of what his father was like. Unlike all the other hallucinations, that one hadn't been much of an exaggeration. Long years of not knowing the slightest thing about his father had left him with only a vilified, shadowy being. Yet here were bel Abis and Lemont -- men that clearly wanted to do him harm -- suggesting his father might actually care.

Eric shook his head.

It didn't make sense, unless bel Abis and Lemont were trying to unbalance him. Which on past form, was highly likely.

Eric frowned. No, it didn't make sense.

And then the light came on again. Hard on the heels of that came a loud klaxon.

~*~

The first stage of the assault had gone well, Kimberly judged. The guards -- or at least, she amended, all the visible guards -- were taken out swiftly by Ben, Rocky and the four members of the recon. team, leaving the way clear for herself, Hines, Cawdron and Peterson to head into the buildings. Unfortunately, there, the luck ran out.

"I thought this place didn't have much in the way of security," Kimberly muttered.

"What?" Hines replied, yelling to make herself heard over the sound of the klaxon.

"Find Myers!" Peterson ordered, pointing down the hallway. "We'll deal with bel Abis and Lemont!" He gestured up the stairs towards what would have been the control room of the processing plant.

__

When he puts it like that, it sounds so simple! Kimberly found herself thinking.

Without further ado, Peterson and Cawdron departed up the stairs.

"This way!" Hines yelled.

"Do you know what we're looking for?" Kimberly asked.

"It's a small cell-like room," Hines answered, "and it's somewhere on ground level."

"Oh great." _What I wouldn't do for one of Billy's gizmos right now..._

"Keep sharp," Hines added. "Who knows **what** else is lurking in this place."

They progressed crab-wise along the corridor, Hines covering the rear with Kimberly leading, looking for any signs of the cell but there was nothing but blank walls. No doorways, no windows, no crossing passages.

"Get the feeling we're being herded towards something?" Kimberly mused, making sure her words were loud enough that Hines would catch them over the still droning alarm.

"Yeah," Hines agreed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't," Kimberly retorted. "That's what Eric said on Tuesday night right before this all blew up."

"Copy that," Hines answered.

Suddenly, the klaxon cut. Kimberly wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. As if cued, the double doors at the end of the corridor swung open.

"Holy. **SHIT**!"

~*~

Eric wasn't entirely surprised when the door of his cell slammed open -- the noise reverberating even over the deafening noise of the klaxon.

"Looks like you're screwed," he observed.

"Do not bet on that, Mr Myers," bel Abis snarled. "Your friends have just walked into my trap. Do not imagine for one second I will let you go as easily now as I did in Kosovo. You **are** mine."

"You're a sick fuck," Eric retorted.

"And you're dead one." Eric felt the business end of the cattle prod jammed against his spine.

"I don't think so."

Before bel Abis had a chance to think about those words, Eric hauled on the manacles, wrapping his hands around the chains and pulling himself up. Starbursts of pain exploded in already abused shoulders. Eric gritted his teeth and continued, pulling himself up and over in an ungainly somersault as bel Abis stabbed forward with the cattle prod.

Off balance, thanks to missing his intended target, bel Abis staggered forwards as Eric completed the somersault. As he came down, he kicked out at the stumbling man, sending him crashing to the ground. The cattle prod was jarred from bel Abis' grip and sent skittering across the floor.

"You will pay," bel Abis hissed, climbing to his feet.

"Guess I must have left my wallet in my other pants," Eric retorted, hauling on the chains again as bel Abis stepped closer. "Night-night."

bel Abis had one moment to look puzzled, then Eric managed to hook his left leg around bel Abis' neck and trap it against his right leg. The surge of pain the action brought was incredible -- and grew worse as bel Abis clawed and struggled against the restraint -- but Eric gritted his teeth and refused to let go. The simple knowledge that if he didn't put bel Abis out now the other man would kill him leant him the strength and determination.

bel Abis' struggles gradually weakened and eventually died away. The other man's dead weight pulled at Eric's shoulders and the burning, tearing pain forced him to relinquish the hold sooner than he'd have liked, but any worries he might have had about bel Abis' condition were settled by the boneless heap the other man dropped into.

Then a wave of pain and nausea over took him and the world faded out.

~*~

Kimberly stared in horror at the five guards who had come through the double doors.

"Oh fuck!" Hines exclaimed.

Kimberly glanced over her shoulder and saw what Hines was looking at. More guards.

"Well, we've got two options here," Kimberly rationalised. "Either we stand here and get killed or..."

"Or we kick some butt," Hines finished. "Are you up for that?"

Kimberly snorted. "Like big and ugly are going to give me that choice."

"Right."

"That's if they've got the guts to take on li'l ol' women," Kimberly drawled.

"Well just..."

But whatever Hines had been about to say was lost as the nearest guards reached them. Reacting instinctively, Kimberly ducked beneath her attacker's flailing arms and drove her shoulder into his stomach. He reeled away, retching.

"What do you know -- he does have guts."

The quip drew a bark of laughter from Hines who was already dealing with her first attacker. "Not any more."

Then there was no time for talking. The guards pressed their advantage of numbers and Kimberly found herself falling back on moves she thought she'd long forgotten. At one stage she found herself facing off against two guys at once. Grabbing one of them by the arm, she used him for balance while she donkey kicked the guy behind her. As he reeled away, she pulled the guy she had hold of towards her and twisted, throwing him into the guy she'd just kicked.

"I pity Eric if he ever pisses you off," Hines breathlessly observed.

"He's got more sense," Kimberly answered, ducking beneath another wild lunge and driving her shoulder into another stomach.

"Need a hand?" Rocky asked as he and Ben joined the fray.

"Man -- I thought there were supposed to be less than twenty of these guys..." Hines muttered.

"Well now we know what bel Abis has been doing in his spare time," Rocky quipped.

"We do?" said Ben, puzzled.

"Yeah -- cloning goons."

"Save it and hit them," Hines advised. "Kim -- you've gotta find Eric. We'll take care of these guys."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes!" The response came in triplicate.

Kimberly didn't bother wasting breath replying. Instead she made for the double doors. A thug stepped into her path.

"Ugly -- either get outta my way, or...oh to hell with this!" Kimberly pulled her so far unused blaster and stunned him. He hit the ground in an insensate heap as she raced passed and through the double doors.

Beyond the double doors, Kimberly found herself on the factory floor of the main ore processing facility. The machinery had all been stripped out, leaving a cavernous, echoing room...with hundreds of side doors.

"Damn it!"

Hurrying, she started to investigate each room in turn. Most of them were padlocked with locks so rusty that it was clear no-one had been near them in years, which sped up the process a little, but all the same, Kimberly began to feel a creeping sense of panic. _This is going to take forever!_

Her eyes were drawn to a door towards the far end of the room. Unlike the rest, that one was open and, in the gathering gloom of dusk, light was streaming through it.

__

Can I risk skipping ahead to check that one?

A barely audible groan settled her mind. At the worst, it was some other unfortunate who needed help. She ran towards the lighted doorway, blaster in hand should it be needed. Another groan reached her ears as she neared it, making her pick up her pace even more. Regardless of who it was, they needed help and quickly.

She skidded to a halt in the doorway, frozen to the spot by the scene that greeted her. From the basic shape and height, she knew this had to be Eric but... Kimberly shuddered. All she could see from her position in the doorway was a view of his back but that was almost more than enough.

She wasn't sure what shocked her more. The fact that he'd been chained, naked, just high enough that he couldn't properly support his weight on his legs or the fact that there was an obviously new and oozing burn mark at the base of his spine that stood out, livid, even amid the existing scars.

"Holy shit..." 

~*~

Lemont watched the close circuit television view of the hallway. What had looked like a hopeless cause for Peterson's two women was rapidly turning into a rout for bel Abis' lackeys.

A glance at another screen told him that bel Abis wasn't going to live to regret this.

__

I think it's time I got out of here, Lemont decided, turning for the door...

...Just as the door imploded.

Instinctively, he took a step backwards as Peterson and Cawdron entered.

"Well, well, well," said Peterson. "If it isn't my good buddy Aaron."

"Going somewhere?" queried Cawdron in a deceptively mild tone of voice.

Lemont started to back away from them. "I can explain!"

"Oh, I'm sure you can," retorted Cawdron.

Lemont backed away another step only to find himself suddenly pinned against the wall by Peterson. "Where is bel Abis?"

He managed to free a hand and point at the bank of monitors. "He's down there."

"Frank -- you might want to get down there," Cawdron commented looking at the monitors.

Peterson didn't turn round. "What is it?"

"Eric."

For a millisecond, Lemont thought Peterson was going to just let go of him and this would be his chance to escape. Then his head clashed heavily against the wall as Peterson rammed him against the brickwork and everything faded into darkness.

~*~

Kimberly forced herself to walk into the room. That was when she spotted the body, sprawled out on the floor at Eric's feet. She wasn't sure, but she figured it was probably bel Abis. That was born out as she got closer and realised whoever it was had been an Arab of some description. _Guess you finally got him,_ she found herself thinking. 

As she got nearer, she saw other things that made her stomach heave. Blood and other bodily fluids had pooled at his feet in a sickly smelling mess. More blood had run down his arms from where the sharp edges of the manacles had cut into his wrists. Beneath the general grime, darkening bruises were starting to be visible.

She finally moved round to stand in front of him and saw the full horror of the gunshot wound to his thigh. It was open and raw and crusted with dried blood. Fresh blood was seeping out over the crust, slowly adding to the congealing puddle.

"Oh my..." Kimberly bit her lip trying to hold back the tide of nausea.

"Kim?"

The hoarse, incredulous query finally tore her gaze away from the wound. Looking up at his face she could see a haze of pain and confusion written large on his face, between the dried tracks of tears and more bruising.

"I'm going to get you out of here," Kimberly stated, hoping that what little food she'd eaten that day would remain put.

"How?"

Kimberly eyed the height of Eric's hands. "No point in looking for keys..." she mumbled. She eyed the brackets the chains were fastened to. "That's a possibility..." Decision made, she thumbed the blaster power setting from stun to kill. She glanced at Eric's face again. He was all but unconscious. _Not good._ "Eric...hon, please -- stay with me. I can't do this on my own."

"'M trying..." he whispered.

"I'm gonna slag the left bracket first," she informed him. "Think you can catch yourself when it goes?"

She watched him swallow and put a literally visible effort into staving off unconsciousness. "Go for it."

Kimberly didn't like this. There was a huge risk that it would hurt Eric all the more but it wasn't as if she had an alternative. She took careful aim at the bracket and fired a steady pulse of energy at the metal fitting, slowly turning it into so much slag. The second the chain came free, she stopped firing and dived forward, helping to steady him.

"OK?" she asked.

There was a long, endless second before Eric finally, weakly, nodded.

"OK," she said, looping his now freed arm around her shoulders. "I'm gonna do the same for the other bracket now. Lean on me," she directed. "I've got you."

"I trust you," he mumbled.

Despite the situation, Kimberly found herself smiling. "It's going to be OK," she promised.

Wrapping her left arm around his chest and turning sideways, so that her left shoulder was virtually into his armpit, Kimberly took a second careful aim. This one was the difficult one. If she didn't catch him as the chain came free he'd land on his injured leg. On any other occasion, under any other circumstances, she'd back him to be able to catch himself. But not here. Not now.

"It's OK," she murmured. "I've got you." She fired again.

The bracket turned malleable. The chain came free. Eric started to drop, unbalanced. Kimberly tightened her grip, pulling him to her. He gave a huff of pain as his right arm dropped but nothing more.

But now he was free...now what?

"C'mon," she murmured. "We've gotta get you out of here."

"'Sno good...I can't..."

Kimberly felt Eric go limp and she suddenly found herself supporting two hundred pounds of unconscious man. Even though she'd been half expecting it, she staggered and would have fallen, taking Eric with her, but for someone catching her.

Kimberly yelped in panic. She hadn't been aware of anyone having joined her.

"It's OK," said the someone. "I've got him now."

Kimberly's head whipped round. Peterson. She wanted to still be angry with him, but the relief of having help -- even his help -- overrode most of her residual anger and what was left over was killed off by the flat out worry visible in every line of Peterson's face.

"You can let go, I'm not going to drop him," Peterson promised.

Reluctantly, Kimberly released her hold on Eric and watched as Peterson picked up Eric's unconscious body as though it weighed nothing. Relieved of her task, Kimberly found reaction setting in. She realised, somewhat to her shock, that she was shaking.

Everything seemed to get confused after that realisation, as if she was seeing things in snatches. One minute she was still in that abominable room, the next she was in Rocky's arms, then she was in the back of the SUV. None of it seemed connected. The only continuous thread was worry over where Eric was.

"He's fine," Rocky tried to assure her.

"But he's not...so much blood...so much...so..." and Kimberly found herself bursting into tears.

"It's no good, she'll have to go with him."

"She has more right than I do."

"But..."

"She has more right than I do, John. You know that."

The words floated through Kimberly's mind and then she found herself being lifted once more. There was another 'blink' and she found herself lying on a gurney in the back of an ambulance. It would have been disconcerting but for someone saying,

"Eric's right here. He's going to be OK."

She managed to focus her gaze in the direction the speaker had indicated and sure enough, Eric was there. Still unconscious but somehow looking better all the same. _He **is** going to be OK..._

The relief of that realisation finished what the crying jag had started and as the ambulance started rolling, Kimberly felt herself drifting off into sleep.

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	12. Chapter 11: Living With The Present

Disclaimer: For nearly the last time, check the prologue! Suffice to say I don't own Eric or Kim. Dr Sonny Jackson is also borrowed, without permission, but from DPP/Rysher and from an obscure film that I seem to be the only person who likes it... (You get a cookie if you know what the film is!)

With most grateful thanks to Gamine, Ekat, Leathie and Chris who have all read various versions of this chapter and offered feedback at different times over the course of the last six months. You guys have helped me no end. Thank you.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Chapter 11 -- Living With The Present

Eric found himself slowly drifting back to consciousness.

Every single fibre ached. His arms felt as if they might be three or four inches longer by virtue of joint dislocation; his shoulders particularly felt as though there was nothing lining up correctly. His back was sore, especially at the base of his spine. He could feel muscles complaining. His left leg didn't hurt too badly, but the heaviness and discomfort in his right leg more than made up for that. He'd have shaken his head at the state he was in, but his head felt as if moving that much might make it explode.

__

I feel like shit, I've been sedated...what the hell have I done to myself this time? he found himself wondering in sleepy confusion, but then the memories of bel Abis and Lemont and the hell that had been that room came back to him.

A combination of fear, alarm and confusion forced his eyes open. He found himself lying in what was obviously a hospital bed somewhere with his right leg in traction.

His first reaction was one of relief. He truly was out of that hell. But the implications of having a leg in traction were slowly sinking in as well. "Oh shit."

"Ah, you're awake."

The voice redirected Eric's attention to a person he hadn't initially spotted. A doctor. "Um..."

The doctor smiled. "I'm Dr Sonny Jackson," he announced. "How're you feeling?"

"Like three day old crap," Eric answered bluntly. Jackson smiled and nodded. "What's the damage?"

Jackson's smile never wavered. "Both shoulders dislocated, both elbows hyperextended, second degree burns and lacerations on both wrists, a third degree burn at the base of your spine, compound fracture of your right femur, blood loss and assorted, minor abrasions and lacerations on the rest of your body."

Eric winced.

"We've had you under sedation here for the past two days," Jackson continued, still smiling. "But now that you're awake, you'll be up and out of here in no time."

__

And I thought Hines-the-human-Barbie-Doll was bad... Eric found himself thinking. Aloud, all he said was, "Here being?"

"Angel Grove General Hospital," Jackson answered, almost grinning now. "Now, I just need to do a quick exam..."

Eric let the rest of Jackson's words and the medical exam slide by him. He answered the inevitable queries as they came up, but most of his mind was occupied by trying to work out how he'd come to be in an Angel Grove hospital.

The last thing he could remember clearly was bel Abis entering the cell after the klaxon had started to sound and what had immediately followed that. But after putting bel Abis out...

"...she's not going to be pleased that you woke up while she was gone," Jackson was saying.

The comment drew Eric out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

Jackson, smile still in place, paused. "Kimberly Cunningham," he answered. "She's barely left your bedside."

"Oh." Eric felt strangely delighted and oddly embarrassed that Kimberly had been with him while he'd been unconscious. The embarrassment, he realised, stemmed from the hazy recollection of Kimberly being the one who'd found him in that hideous little room.

"There -- all done," said Jackson. "All being, well, I see no reason why you won't be able to go home on Tuesday."

"Tuesday?" Eric echoed. "What day is it today?"

Jackson grinned again. "Sunday -- you arrived here late on Thursday night and you've been sedated for two full days."

"Oh." There didn't seem to be a great deal else Eric could say in response.

"I'll stop by later to see how you're getting on," Jackson continued, as if Eric had said nothing. "See you later."

__

Not if I see you coming first, Eric found himself thinking as he watched the doctor leave. _Doctors really **shouldn't** be perky._

He barely had time to finish that thought, however, as Kimberly walked through the door.

There was a slightly awkward moment as their eyes met, then Kimberly smiled. "Hey," she murmured. "Back with us, huh?"

Eric smiled faintly in return. "I've got plenty of reasons to be back." He hesitated a second, as Kimberly came into the room and took up the seat beside the bed. "Unfinished business."

"Like?"

__

Take a risk. "Like telling you that I came close to giving up." Kimberly looked worried. "Until I realised that I had a huge reason to want to survive."

"And that was?"

"I didn't want to leave you." _Take a risk._ "Kim..." _Take a risk._ "Kim, I love you." Eric didn't think there were three harder words to say, but he only had a second to feel that way before Kimberly wrapped her arms around him in a careful hug and what few reservations he'd had about saying the words vanished.

"I love you too," she murmured, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Ahem?" Eric jumped. Kimberly all but flew back into her seat. "Is this a private party or can anyone join?"

Eric looked up to see Rocky standing in the doorway trying not to look sheepish -- and failing -- and Cawdron -- who wasn't even trying not to look sheepish. Eric closed his eyes and groaned.

"It really **is** just like having your parents walk in," he muttered. Kimberly giggled.

"Pardon?" said Cawdron.

"Private joke," Eric replied, opening his eyes again.

"How're you doing?" Rocky asked, in lieu of anything better to say.

"Good," Eric answered, glancing at Kimberly. "Real good."

Rocky smirked. "I see."

Eric grinned. Kimberly glared.

"If I may," said Cawdron, "I'd like to have a few words...in private, if possible."

__

And here comes the military debrief, Eric mused. "Can't this wait a little longer?"

Cawdron looked more sheepish as he shook his head. "Unfortunately not."

"Why?" asked Kimberly.

Cawdron pulled a face. "Because I face a court martial hearing tomorrow."

Eric stared. "You what?"

Cawdron looked rueful. "I went AWOL last Monday night. Foster and Hines went AWOL Wednesday morning -- but because I, as their superior officer, 'led them astray', they'll both get off with slapped wrists and demotions." Cawdron smiled faintly. "I'll make sure of that in the morning."

"But why?" Eric asked, completely puzzled.

Cawdron glanced meaningfully at Kimberly and Rocky.

"Kim -- how about we go pick up Alice and come back in an hour?" Rocky suggested.

Kimberly chewed on her lip. "Are you sure?" she murmured softly, looking at Eric.

Eric sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I'll still be here -- I promise."

Kimberly smiled faintly as she stood up. "I'll hold you to that." She leant over and kissed him lightly, nothing more than a chaste brush of her lips against his, but it served to seal the promise. "See you later."

Eric watched as she and Rocky both left.

"I don't think I've ever seen you look quite so happy," Cawdron observed.

That was when Eric realised he had a goofy expression on his face. He tried to remove it, but only succeeded, he suspected, in toning it down as Cawdron came into the room, closing the door behind him.

"I'll try and be brief," Cawdron said as he sat down in the seat that Kimberly had just left. "There are some things that the guys in Intel feel you ought to know about the...situation...that you're not going to like, but they figure you'll hear them better from someone you know."

Eric shivered at the sense of déjà vu. Cawdron's comments were enough to bring him back down to earth. "Such as?"

Cawdron hesitated for a long moment, clearly debating his words. "I guess the first thing to tell you is that Aaron Lemont is getting the book thrown at him -- unfortunately, as all the case against him is based on circumstantial evidence..."

"He threatened me," Eric said quietly. "Informed me I was a 'means to an end'."

Cawdron gave Eric a steady look. "Are you sure you want to say that? It'll mean you'll get called on in court..."

"Yes, I am sure I want to say that. You tell whoever in Intel they have a witness."

Cawdron nodded. "OK."

"What about bel Abis?" Eric asked.

"You mean will you face any charges?" Cawdron asked, faint amusement now on his face. "Not hardly. I know and you know that bel Abis didn't slip and break his neck, but as far as the relevant person in Intel is concerned, that is what happened."

"Isn't that perverting the course of justice or something?" Eric asked, both faintly amused and deeply relieved.

Cawdron chuckled humourlessly. "He got what was coming to him. Believe me, if I'd been able to get my hands on him three years ago..." Cawdron shook his head. "That's beside the point."

Eric nodded carefully.

Cawdron hesitated again. "I guess the other thing...kinda related to the first one is that...Lemont falsified your psyche evaluations...had your psyche evaluations falsified."

Eric stared at Cawdron, wondering if he'd heard right. "He what?"

Obviously having got the first admission out of the way, the next piece was easier to say, as Cawdron continued, "Not your initial ones -- when you were first released from the med-centre, but the ongoing evaluation." Cawdron looked down, avoiding Eric's incredulous gaze. "The one I was given when I had to convince you not to re-enlist."

"So I..." Eric stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

Cawdron just nodded. "You were never mentally imbalanced. I had my doubts about the diagnosis at the time. I'd seen for myself that you were a little quieter, a little more...reserved, perhaps would be the word. But I wouldn't have said you were withdrawn, or particularly prone to bouts of depression. Anger..." Cawdron met Eric's gaze. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he continued, "but you've always had a short fuse?"

Eric smiled faintly. "Something like that."

"I knew at gut level that it was wrong -- but I'd been ordered to follow the recommendations of the evaluation." Cawdron smiled wryly. "It doesn't mean a whole lot now...just as it didn't mean a whole lot then, but I really am sorry."

Eric knew he should have been angry. Knew he should have been livid that someone had literally taken his career away from him in this way. And yet he wasn't. 

He wasn't nuts; he wasn't...never had been mentally imbalanced. The relief of that realisation far outweighed any anger he might have had, and the nagging fear that had lurked at the back of his mind for the past three years -- that he might just be crazy -- melted like a snowflake in the Sahara.

"Thank you," Eric finally said.

Cawdron looked a little bemused. "What for?"

"A lot of things, really. Mostly," Eric explained, "for being here now and telling me this."

"You're taking this rather better than I thought you would."

Eric grinned. "Not like I can exactly **do** anything but sit here and curse -- and there's not a whole lot of point in doing that."

Cawdron looked thoughtful. "I think maybe Lemont did you a favour, in the end."

Eric thought about what he'd been doing in the time since leaving the Marines and where he'd ended up. "I think maybe he did...in a back handed sort of way."

Silence fell after that admission. Eric briefly wondered where he would be now, had Lemont not contrived to end his career in the Marines, but that brief fantasy ended almost before it began. He realised that while he might very well have made a commissioned officer by now, he wouldn't be happy and he would unquestionably still be alone. Which just left the question, why?

"I guess," said Cawdron, breaking the silence, "you're probably wondering why Lemont did what he did."

"I'm figuring it wasn't because of my wit and charm," said Eric dryly.

Cawdron smiled faintly. "No." Eric watched as the smile faded from Cawdron's face. "You were Lemont's target," Cawdron explained, "but you were never the real victim."

__

You don't know dear ol' dad but I do.

Lemont's words came back to him once more and he found himself shuddering. Lemont had been telling the truth. Nothing Cawdron had said so far was a clear agreement with Lemont's words and yet...

"You're saying," said Eric quietly, "that Lemont was using me to get at someone else."

Cawdron nodded reluctantly. "I'm afraid so."

"Who?" Eric knew he wasn't going to like the answer, but he knew the question would eat away at him if he didn't ask.

"I...are you..."

"Who?" Eric repeated, cutting Cawdron off.

"Your father."

And even though he'd known that was coming, it was still a shock. Eric wasn't sure what hurt worse; knowing that the whole ordeal was because of family he didn't know or knowing that by the very definition, his father knew who he was and cared about him. _Just not enough to ever introduce himself to me._

"Why?" he found himself asking.

"It was some sort of grudge," Cawdron answered, finally looking up to meet Eric's gaze. "I don't know all the details...to be honest, I didn't know about it period until Thursday."

The implication was that his father had been amongst the people who helped to rescue him. Before Eric had consciously processed that idea, he found himself asking, "Is he still around?" _Where did **that** come from?_

There was a long, long pause before Cawdron answered, "Yes...why?"

__

Good question. Eric wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose but that was an impossibility, thanks to his arms still currently being immobilised. He settled for sighing. "Because...I want to meet him. I need to know why."

Cawdron nodded slowly. "I can understand that."

"I don't just mean why Lemont did what he did," Eric continued quietly. "I'm tired of dragging the past around with me, but I can't lay it aside until I know the full story...and that includes knowing why he hasn't been a part of my life until now."

Cawdron nodded again. "OK."

~*~

In due course, Kimberly returned, with Alice, Rocky and Aisha, and Eric found the afternoon passed by swiftly. They left, reluctantly in the cases of Kimberly and Alice, at five o'clock. Not long after that, the nursing staff had served him an evening meal -- although that had been an interesting experience, thanks to the immobilisation of his arms. Part of him balked at virtually being spoon-fed like a baby -- the rest of him was just grateful that the nurse had done just that, otherwise he wouldn't have had anything to eat at all.

A knock on the door drew him from his thoughts. Looking up, Eric saw Cawdron.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Cawdron asked.

"Not a whole lot of anything going on round here," Eric answered, smiling faintly. "What can I do for you, sir?"

Cawdron broke into a grin at that. "John. It's not a difficult name to say, you know."

Eric grimaced. "Sorry."

Cawdron waved the apology off. "It's not a problem. I'm going again in a moment, I just wanted to...introduce your visitor."

Eric's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "Who the hell is it? The president?"

The flippancy brought a brief smile to Cawdron's face. "No. It's...this is Colonel Frank Peterson of Military Intelligence." As Cawdron spoke another man of about the same age as Cawdron entered the room.

Eric could only stare, wide eyed, at Peterson. He was vaguely aware of Cawdron taking his leave, but all his attention was rooted on the man who had moved to stand at the foot of the bed.

It was almost like looking in a mirror. There were differences: Peterson was tall and almost willowy in build while Eric tended towards being on the shorter side of average and stocky; Peterson's complexion hinted that the now salt-and-pepper hair had once been fair or light brown while Eric's own colouring was much darker. But while Peterson's features might have been a little more worn, a little more lined, they were unmistakably the same as the ones Eric saw every day in the mirror.

"Hello, Eric," said Peterson tentatively.

And the last vestige of the hallucinations shattered forever. "You really are him."

Peterson smiled a little. "Yes, I am."

"Why?" Eric asked quietly. "From what Cawdron's told me today, you've known about me my whole life...and Lemont wouldn't have figured his plan would work if you didn't know about me."

Nervously, Peterson gestured towards the chair beside the bed. "May I...?"

Eric nodded carefully. "Sure."

Peterson sat down. "I had hoped that Annie might have explained..."

Eric snorted with humourless laughter. "She refused to say a word about you -- on the rare occasions when she was sober enough for me to ask. I figured I was the result of a drunken one night stand."

Peterson winced. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I didn't know about that...although I don't know what I could have done differently."

"Been around?" Eric suggested, unable to entirely keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Peterson winced again. "The whole reason I wasn't around was..." He trailed off and shook his head. "For all the good it did either of us."

Eric lifted his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Peterson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in a gesture that Eric knew well. "I met your mother back in 1972. She was studying at UCLA; I was home from a tour of duty in Viet Nam. We hit it off pretty good, and when I went back, we wrote to each other. Over the course of the next year or so we...got serious and on the night before I was due to go back for my fourth tour, I proposed to her."

Eric frowned as he did the math. "And this would have been...?" he asked.

Peterson looked faintly amused. "I figured you wouldn't want me to go into the gory details."

Eric gave a stiff shrug. "I just want to know the time scale." 

"In that case, yes, I returned to 'Nam at the end of July 1973."

Eric nodded. "So what happened?"

"I...was MIA." It was Eric's turn to wince. "I'm in military intelligence. I was sent in behind enemy lines to scout out targets..." Peterson trailed off as Eric nodded. "Anyway. On this particular occasion, I was sent into this village and no more than about fifteen hours later, the Viet Cong destroyed the place. As near as I can piece together, the authorities figured I'd been caught and killed, particularly when I missed my rendezvous."

"Where were you?" Eric asked, curious as to how Peterson had survived.

"Someone'd tipped me off and I'd gotten the hell out but I'd had no chance to tell anyone. It took me six weeks to get back to our side...by which time Annie'd been told I'd been killed. I got back to LA and she'd gone."

"Gone?" Eric echoed.

"Vanished. Left no forwarding address and no-one seemed to know where she'd gone."

"And you didn't try and track her down?"

"Of course I did." Peterson looked faintly offended. "It took me nearly a year, but when I found you both..." Peterson sighed. "She didn't want to know. Said she'd moved on. Gave me back my ring. Pushed me out. I spent three years...though I guess you don't remember it, trying..." Peterson shrugged. "Then she moved to Silverhills, and I got posted to Germany...and that was that."

Eric nodded slowly. "I see." He wanted to be angry about the whole mess, but... "Chalk it up as yet another way Annie Myers has managed to fuck up my life." Peterson winced at that, but wisely made no comment. "So where does Lemont fit into this mess?"

Peterson gave a long groan. "That's a little more complicated."

"It's not like I'm going anywhere soon," Eric commented, smiling a little.

Peterson returned the smile briefly. "The short version is that he and I were friends...really good friends and then he got the wrong end of the stick about something..." Peterson shook his head. "Not long after I was posted to Germany, things started happening. To me, to my friends, to people who knew me...sinister stuff; things would go missing, people would get attacked -- I got beaten up by hired thugs; a private I'd taken under my wing, so to speak, was stabbed. It was crazy. There was nothing about it that suggested who was behind it -- or why. That was when I completely broke contact with you and Annie..."

"You figured if you did that there would be no way for 'them' to figure out who your family was," Eric finished, making the connection.

Peterson nodded. "Exactly."

"And Lemont was behind it?"

"Yeah." Peterson sighed. "Unfortunately, I only realised **that** when I realised Lemont was mixed up in your abduction this time round...which is the real reason I've never mentioned this to you." Eric's eyebrows shot up at that comment, but Peterson shook his head. "Ask your girlfriend." Eric made a note to do just that. "Either way, ultimately, I screwed up at keeping you out of this."

Eric shook his head a little to vehemently and winced as muscles complained at the action. "Lemont was my overall CO for eight years. I don't believe he's dumb enough not to have noticed the resemblance."

Peterson blinked, looking stunned.

"What? You're not blaming yourself for this?" Eric was incredulous.

"No, but I thought you would."

"I want to," Eric admitted quietly. "I want to sit here and curse you blind. But I know it **isn't** your fault. At the end of the day, I know that none of this would have happened if Lemont wasn't an asshole."

Peterson smiled faintly. "Couldn't have put that better myself."

Eric returned the smile. 

Silence descended awkwardly.

"Where do we go from here?" Peterson eventually asked.

Eric sighed. "I don't know. I do know one thing."

"What?"

Eric looked over at Peterson and met his gaze. "However much either of us might want me to, I can't ever think of you as 'dad'. I'm sorry."

Peterson sighed and nodded. "I understand."

"But," Eric continued carefully, "I would like to get to know you."

__

TO BE CONTINUED...


	13. Epilogue: Facing The Future

Disclaimer: Don't own anyone. See prologue for details.

For the full list of thanks, please see the end credits.

Please offer feedback, it tells me how I've done.

~*~

Epilogue -- Facing the Future

East Mall, Silverhills  
15th April 2002; 12:13pm

Three weeks.

Eric couldn't quite believe that was all it had been. So much had happened. So much had changed. **He** had changed. As he slowly made his way through the mall, he half wondered if Wes and Jen would actually recognise him. The millstone of a past unknown that he'd been dragging around for as long as he could remember was gone. Shattered forever by meeting Peterson. 

Eric privately doubted that he and Peterson could ever be anything more than acquaintances. While he might have finally cut loose the years of bitterness and anger, he was well aware there was equally no way to have that time over again. Much as he might wish there wasn't, there was always going to be a small amount of irrational hostility at the back of his mind. Then there was the fact that he and Peterson were very clearly cut from the same cloth. Both stubborn, hard-headed and quick to anger -- too long in each other's company and Eric knew the chances of bloodshed would be good.

As for Kosovo, the experience was still there -- still lurking at the back of his mind -- but the immediacy of it all had finally dimmed. _Maybe because I finally realised I had friends waiting for me, too,_ he mused, spotting his first destination. 

That was perhaps the strangest part of the whole three weeks. Realising that he wasn't alone. Ben and Gina had been worried about what had happened to him. Rocky had dropped everything to help... Eric shook his head. Foster, Hines and Cawdron had risked their careers and a jail term to help him.

As it had turned out, all three had avoided the serious consequences. Foster and Hines had both been demoted -- Eric suspected that when their respective tours of duty were up in the fall both would apply for positions within the Silver Guardians. In fact, the last time he'd spoken to Foster, the other man had as good as said that was what he would be doing. As for Cawdron, he too had escaped a jail term -- although he had been required to accept a dishonourable discharge. Eric wondered where the justice in that was, but Cawdron had been philosophical about it when he'd told Eric the outcome:

__

"It was my choice. You got screwed over once -- I didn't want to see it happen again."

Eric sighed. Life was definitely weird.

__

_At least I don't have to hunt for a new place to live,_ he mused. _Or a new job._

Somewhat to Eric's surprise, Mr Collins had come to see him while he'd still been in hospital. Initially, Eric had figured it was so that he could be fired in person, but it had very quickly transpired that firing him was the last thing on Mr Collins' mind.

__

_"Why on earth would I want to do that?"_ Collins had asked. _"I have no grounds for dismissal. Granted, you didn't turn up for work on Wednesday, last week -- but when members of the US Armed Forces show up and commandeer my staff, I figure there's a good reason for it."_

And while Eric had been trying to wrap his mind around that, Collins had dropped another bombshell in the shape of a set of keys. Eric had only been able to stare stupidly at them and say,

__

"What are these?"

_"Keys,"_ Collins had answered, amused. _"For your new apartment."_

And that was when the pieces started to drop into place. Collins had rented him an apartment in the same block as Jen's.

_"Just until you get back on your feet,"_ Collins had said. _"Perhaps that's a little more literal than I originally intended!"_

Then there had been the responses of all his friends -- a phrase that still took him a little by surprise after so many years spent considering himself to be alone -- to his release from hospital. Little things. Gina had insured that the apartment was fully functional by the time he was released from hospital. Rocky and Aisha had helped Gina with arranging furniture. Ben had all but insisted on acting as chauffeur any time Eric needed to go out of the apartment. Foster and Hines had been unable to do much in the way of helping -- both being confined to base -- but they phoned on quite a regular basis... And all of that was on top of the help that Kimberly provided.

_It's a little like being surrounded by seven mother hens. Maybe I should be glad Wes and Jen haven't been around._ He shook his head. He didn't really mind. Sure, it took a little getting used to, but it was nice to know that people did care.

At that point in his thoughts, Eric finally reached his first destination. He was on his way to meet Kimberly and Alice for lunch, but he had to pick something up first. Looking through the shop window, he spotted just what he was looking for. Smiling he made for the shop door.

__

Now if they've only got them in the right sizes...

~*~

Kimberly sipped her drink and tried not to glance at her watch. It was only just gone half past twelve and Eric was not exactly quick on his feet at the moment, but she couldn't help feel nervous.

_You're being ridiculous,_ she tried to tell herself, but it was hard to think that way with the events of three weeks earlier still very fresh in her mind. _There's not going to be another bel Abis._ But she couldn't be sure.

"Eric!"

Alice's excited squeal brought her out of her reverie to see Eric arriving at their table.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologised. "I'd forgotten how big this place is."

Kimberly smiled. "Not used to the crutches yet, huh?"

He smiled ruefully as he eased himself down into the empty seat. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather **not** get used to them -- and never have to use them again when the plaster comes off."

Kimberly's smile turned to a grin. "I can understand that."

"So have you guys been having fun?" Eric asked.

"Yes!" Alice started to babble about the morning's shopping, going into great detail about how exciting it had been.

Kimberly got the feeling Eric wasn't much of a shopper if he had any choice in the matter but as Alice chattered to him about their various purchases, she could see him getting more and more into Alice's story. She wondered if he was even aware of the delight stealing across his face.

"Sounds like you've had a busy morning," he finally said as Alice wound down.

"It was OK," said Alice. "Would have been better if you'd been here."

Eric looked apologetic. "I'm sorry -- but I had stuff to do this morning."

"Did you get it sorted out?" Kimberly asked, rejoining the conversation, knowing that he had spent much of the morning talking to loss adjusters and insurance companies to try and at least get some money for the things he lost in the fire.

Eric looked up and grimaced. "Yes and no. They're sending 'investigators' out to 'check my story'." He shook his head.

Kimberly smiled in sympathy. "The investigators will have to back up your claim," she replied. "After all, it's not as if you have no witnesses."

Eric smiled wryly. "True."

"Do you want something to eat?" she continued.

He offered her a sheepish smile. "I'm going to have to skip that part."

Kimberly looked at him sharply. "And why is that?"

"Because I have to go give my deposition at Lemont's pre-trial in half an hour. Lawyers!" Eric rolled his eyes. "They couldn't have called me **yesterday** to give me a day's notice. Nooo!"

Kimberly had to laugh at the sarcasm. "They phoned this morning, huh?"

"Yeah." Eric grimaced. "Which means, I've pretty much got to get going to meet Ben in the next five minutes."

"It sucks to be you, huh?"

"Put it this way," Eric replied, "I can't wait to get out of plaster and be able to drive myself around instead of having to rely on other people. It's not even as if that was something I had to do as a kid!"

Kimberly laughed.

"Can't you stay this afternoon?" Alice put in, pouting.

"I'd like to, sweetheart," Eric answered, "but I've got to do this stuff this afternoon." 

Alice pouted again.

"But...before I go...there's something I need to do first."

"What?" Alice asked, puzzled.

Kimberly stared, wide-eyed, as Eric produced two ring boxes from his jacket pocket. "I'd get down on one knee but right at the moment, that's a little tricky so..." He swallowed and Kimberly could see his hands shaking. "Kim...Alice -- I feel as if we've become a family in the last three weeks...and I'd like to make that official. I love you both, very much. Will you marry me?"

Kimberly felt the breath catch in her throat. She'd guessed that was what he was going to say when he'd produced the ring boxes but she was still surprised. She was even more surprised by the way he was effortlessly including Alice in this. _Most guys would have just proposed to me,_ she realised. _He's proposing to both of us...and I get the feeling that if we don't both say yes he'll back off..._

"Mommy?" Alice said in a stage whisper, looking confused. "What do I say?"

Kimberly smiled, both at her daughter's question and at the deeply nervous expression on Eric's face. "Do you want Eric as your daddy?" Kimberly answered.

"Of course!"

"Then answer Eric's question 'yes'."

"Is that it?" Alice asked, doubtfully.

"That's it," Kimberly replied. "Go on, tell him," she prompted.

Alice swivelled in her seat until she was facing Eric. "Yes I will," she said earnestly.

Kimberly felt Eric's gaze on her as she slowly got to her feet. She moved around the table until she was standing beside him.

"Mommy?" asked Alice. "What are you going to say?"

Kimberly smiled at her daughter and then fixed her attention on Eric. She could see he still looked nervous. Taking one of his hands in her own, she leant in and kissed him deeply. It was the kiss she'd wanted to give him when he'd told her he loved her for the first time. As it finished, she could hear a few people applauding.

"Kim...?" Eric looked stunned, although she could see a growing realisation in his expression.

Kimberly smiled at him. "Yes, I'd love to."

__

TO BE CONTINUED IN ALMOST UNREAL...

~*~

End Credits

For those of you wondering, here's translations of the assorted bits and pieces of Serbo-Croat and/or military-speak that I've used during the Hide and Seek:  
SNAFU-Situation normal all fucked up  
Istekao - up  
Kleknuti - kneel

There are a number of people who have helped me during the course of writing this story who deserve special mention. So, in no particular order:

Gamine -- for being a sterling individual and a wonderful beta reader AND a great cattle prod when I'm not doing it right...

Irina -- for helping me out, eliminating English-isms and for being my guinea pig on certain sections of this story. Also for putting up with me when I was writing Hallucinations, a couple of days when I was NOT fun to be around.

Ekat -- for providing me with all kinds of information, reading and rereading certain chapters of this story and generally putting up with me.

Chris -- for listening to me, offering feedback and very helpful suggestions (along with occasionally less helpful suggestions, and suggestions that just flat out make me laugh).

You, the readers, for reading and enjoying this story. This story is possibly my favourite out of all the Identiverse stories, so that people have read and enjoyed it means a lot to me.

Three months, fifty thousand words; book three of the Identiverse is now complete.


End file.
